Rome is full of teens for their Jubilee: Now what?

The Jubilee of Teenagers was supposed to be a great moment of joy and celebration for some 80,000 young people from around the world, gathered in Rome from April 25 to 27, 2025. Now, it’s transformed into a time of mourning and reflection.

Many teenagers were en route to Rome when the news of the Pope's death on Monday morning arrived. Obviously his passing profoundly affected the events, but the program for the Jubilee of Adolescents remains virtually unchanged, as confirmed to Aleteia by the Dicastery for Evangelization, which is organizing the Jubilee.

What was planned as a celebration of faith and global unity will now become a place of prayer and reflection.

The three-day program, which includes a “Via Lucis” (Stations of the Resurrection) procession and a Mass in St. Peter's Square on Sunday, remains largely unchanged. The Mass, in fact, will become the 2nd of the nine days of Masses for mourning.

However, two major events have been canceled: the celebration at the Circus Maximus on April 26 and the long-awaited canonization of Blessed Carlo Acutis, scheduled for April 27.

Many dioceses and parishes have had to adapt urgently to this unforeseen situation. “Everything’s been turned upside down!” sums up Marie, one of the organizers of the trip for teenagers from the parish of Sainte-Cécile in Boulogne-Billancourt. ”We’re preparing the young people not for a canonization, but for a funeral."

Despite everything, she’s convinced that this experience will be powerful and meaningful for the young people, even if it probably means spending the night in St. Peter's Square to get a good place at the funeral Mass.

Another major challenge is passing through the Holy Doors to obtain the plenary indulgence. The Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica was closed following the death of Pope Francis, and groups that had reserved a time slot to pass through them are now finding it difficult to do so. The Vatican has announced that the Jubilee path from Via della Conciliazione to St. Peter’s Holy Door, lined with barriers and guarded by volunteers, will be closed until Friday. However, pilgrims may still go through the Holy Door during the hours when the basilica is open, following the path indicated by the security guards for the faithful who have come to pay homage to Pope Francis.

“In the end, we’ll pass through the Holy Door of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major on Friday morning, before it’s closed too,” says one organizer, delighted that a solution has been found.

On Saturday, April 26 — the day of Francis' funeral — the Holy Door of St. Peter's will be closed until 3 p.m. On Sunday, April 27, it will open at 3 p.m., after the Mass in suffrage for Pope Francis, in the presence of the teenagers gathered for their jubilee.

Similarly, the Holy Door of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major will be closed all day Saturday. This is the basilica where the Argentine pope is to be buried. Pilgrims who’ve reserved a place to pass through the Holy Door of these two basilicas during these days of exceptional closure can visit the two other basilicas with Holy Doors, St. John Lateran and St. Paul Outside the Walls, without a reservation.

Despite the sadness and unexpected events, the enthusiasm of young people remains intact, as Fr. Thomas Magimel points out: “They’re going to experience something historic and they know it.”

While some won’t be able to get close enough to see the event up close, Fr. Magimel insists that “an event isn’t something you see, but something you experience!”

Colombe, 14, agrees: “It's part of history, we'll be able to participate in this moment.”

Even with the shock of Pope Francis' death, the Jubilee of Teens in Rome promises to be a memorable and unique moment for the young pilgrims, who’ll have an intense spiritual and historic experience, marked by adjustments but also by a strong sense of unity in contemplation.