M024-EL VATICANO MISA LEON XIV

1. VARIOUS OF POPE LEO ARRIVING IN ST PETER'S BASILICA

2. CARDINALS PARTICIPATING IN MASS

3. INSIDE ST PETER'S BASILICA

4. (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) POPE LEO, SAYING:

"Loving and seeking peace means protecting what is holy and, consequently, that which is newly born like a small, vulnerable, fragile baby. Around us, a distorted economy tries to profit from everything. We see how the marketplace can turn human yearnings of seeking, travelling and beginning again into a mere business.“

5. PRESIDENT OF THE ITALIAN REPUBLIC, SERGIO MATTARELLA, PARTICIPATING IN MASS

6. POPE LEO HOLDING MASS

7. (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) POPE LEO, SAYING:

"Let us ask ourselves: has the Jubilee taught us to flee from this type of efficiency that reduces everything to a

product and human beings to consumers? After this year, will we be better able to recognize a pilgrim in the visitor, a seeker in the stranger, a neighbour in the foreigner, and fellow travellers in those who are different?"

8. INSIDE ST PETER'S BASILICA

STORY: Pope Leo, who has made care for immigrants a central theme of his early papacy, said at a Vatican ceremony on Tuesday (January 6) that the record 33.5 million pilgrims who visited Rome during the Holy Year should have learned not to treat humans as mere "products". He urged Christians worldwide to help those in need and to treat foreigners with kindness.

Earlier in the ceremony, the pope had closed the Catholic Church's Holy Year by sealing shut the special "Holy Door" in St. Peter's Basilica. Holy years, or jubilees, typically occur every 25 years and are considered a time of peace, forgiveness and pardon. Pilgrims to Rome can enter special "Holy Doors" at four Rome basilicas, and can attend papal audiences throughout the year.

Vatican and Italian officials said on Monday that pilgrims to Rome for the 2025 jubilee came from 185 countries, with Italy, the United States, Spain, Brazil and Poland leading the pack.

The 2025 jubilee was marked by an historical rarity not seen for 300 years. It was opened by one pope, Francis, and closed by his successor, Leo.

Francis died in April after 12 years leading the 1.4-billion-member Church. The last jubilee held under two popes was in the year 1700, when Clement XI closed a holy year opened by Innocent XII.

Leo, who has pledged to keep Francis' signature policies such as welcoming gay Catholics and discussing women's ordination, echoed the late pope's frequent criticisms of the global economic system on Tuesday.

Leo, the first U.S. pope, lamented that the markets "turn human yearnings of seeking, travelling and beginning again into a mere business."