ROME (CNS) -- The Jubilee Year, the death of Pope Francis and the unexpected election of a U.S. pope boosted the number of U.S. visitors seeking free tickets to Vatican events in 2025, said the Bishops' Office for U.S. Visitors to the Vatican.

The peak moments with the highest visitor volume were in October and Nov. 26, 2025, the day before Thanksgiving and the pope's first trip abroad, when there were 2,000 to 2,300 ticket requests for three Wednesday general audiences, it said.

Also, the period of Pope Francis' death, April 21, and the election of Pope Leo, May 8, saw a "huge spike" in emails requesting information and tickets, said the office, which is sponsored by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Pontifical North American College.

Other events triggering increased interest and inquiries were the funeral of Pope Francis April 26, and Pope Leo's inaugural Mass, May 18, the office said. Large numbers of Americans were already in Rome in late April for St. Carlo Acutis' anticipated April 27 canonization, which was then postponed until Sept. 7.  

The small office near the Trevi Fountain said it handed out about 24,000 Wednesday general audience tickets for just 28 general audiences held in 2025, which showed a 64% increase from 2024, when about 21,900 tickets were requested over 42 general audiences held that year.  

While there are no general audiences in July and the visitors' office is closed in August, there were fewer audiences in 2025 because Pope Francis was in the hospital starting Feb. 14; after his death April 21, audiences were on hold until after Pope Leo was elected May 8.

Mercy Sister Marie Thérèse Savidge, RSM, coordinator for the USCCB's Visitors' Office, said they stayed open nonetheless, even when there were no general audience tickets to distribute. 

They held a period of Eucharistic adoration and prayer in the residence's chapel, and "it was a privilege to witness the faith of the handful of visitors each week who came to take timeout of their pilgrimage schedule to pray and intercede for Pope Francis," Sister Marie Thérèse wrote in an article that appeared on the Archdiocese of Los Angeles' site AngelusNews.com Dec. 30.

When Wednesday general audiences resumed May 21 "the response was remarkable," she wrote. "We were used to welcoming about 900 people in peak seasons. But for Pope Leo's first audience, more than 1,800 came, and since then pilgrims have continued to come in larger numbers than ever."

The visitors' office also provided support and information for at least 23 papal Masses held in 2025, it added.  

The office, tucked away in the Casa Santa Maria, the residence for U.S. priests doing graduate studies in Rome, is where hundreds of Americans -- and not only -- go on Tuesday afternoons to pick up their tickets for the pope's weekly general audience on Wednesdays. It has been offering these services since the early 1970s.

They are welcomed by the Mercy Sisters of Alma, Michigan, aided by U.S. priests and seminarians studying in Rome.  

After requesting tickets online before beginning their journeys, the visitors pick up their tickets at the office in Rome and receive detailed information on when to go to the Vatican for the audience and what to bring or not bring -- metal water bottles and rolling suitcases topping the list of forbidden items.

The sisters also explain who the pope is, why he is important and what the meaning of his blessing is.  

They also briefly talk about the sacraments and their availability in Rome, including at the visitors' office, where they have priests available to hear confessions.

The office estimated they had from four to six priests hearing confessions for two to three hours during almost every ticket distribution day from May to December in 2025.

Office staff also tallied the numbers of small groups by state, that is, families, individuals and newlyweds requesting tickets for the first 12 audiences of the year, from January until the end of June. Naturally, California, Texas and Florida -- states with the highest populations -- ranked in the top three. However, Illinois -- Pope Leo's home state and the sixth most populous state in the U.S. -- had more visitors than New York, the fourth most populous state.  

Benedictine monk, called Theristus or �Harvester.� He was of Calabrian lineage, born in Sicily. His mother was a slave of the Saracens. John escaped at a young age and became a monk.

Imagine being able to sit at the feet of the apostles and hear their stories of life with Jesus from their own lips. Imagine walking with those who had walked with Jesus, seen him, and touched him. That was what Polycarp was able to do as a disciple of Saint John the Evangelist. But being part of the second generation of Church leaders had challenges that the first generation could not teach about. What did you do when those eyewitnesses were gone? How do you carry on the correct teachings ...

ROME (CNS) -- While Satan tempts humanity with the lie of gaining unlimited power, God offers the gift of true freedom that leads to real love, relationships and fulfillment, Pope Leo XIV said.

Beginning with the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, humankind has had to face "the age-old dilemma: can I live my life to the fullest by saying 'yes' to God? Or, to be free and happy, must I free myself from Him?" the pope said in his homily during a morning Mass celebrated in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Rome Feb. 22.

Jesus, the incarnate Son of God, shows the world "the new man, the free man, the epiphany of freedom that is realized by saying 'yes' to God" and "opposing the snares" of the devil, he said.

The pope also urged the faithful to turn off all devices during certain moments of the day in order to create "space for silence," prayer, listening and the sacraments. 

"Let us dedicate time to those who are alone, especially the elderly, the poor and the sick. By giving up what is superfluous, we can share what we save with those in need," he said before praying the Angelus at noon with those gathered in St. Peter's Square.

"Let us create space for silence by turning off televisions, radios and cell phones for a while," he added.

Early in the morning, Pope Leo visited a Salesian-run 19th-century basilica in the city's center, near the main train station, where more than 450,000 people travel each day, Father Javier Ortiz Rodríguez, the parish priest, told the pope.

This heavy stream of people during the day is "like a full river in a storm," the priest said, which then turns into devastating "landslides" in the dead of night with increased violence, exploitation, drug use and prostitution. 

"Your visit is like a healing ointment" for the community, which includes numerous students, immigrants, people lacking housing and employment, as well as the elderly, the priest told the pope. 

It was Pope Leo's second of five pastoral visits in the Diocese of Rome in the run-up to Easter April 5. The visits include private meetings with members of each parish's pastoral council, local priests, volunteers and the people they serve.

The Lenten season is a time to rediscover the beauty of Baptism as a grace that does not negate, but that "encounters our freedom," the pope said in his homily on the first Sunday of Lent.

"The story in Genesis brings us back to our condition as creatures, tested not so much by a prohibition, as is often believed, but by a possibility: the possibility of a relationship" with God the Creator and all his creatures, he said. "Human beings are free to recognize and welcome the otherness of the Creator."

But the devil, in the form of the serpent, tempted Adam and Eve with the illusion of becoming like God, deceiving them that God was actually seeking to deny them of something "to keep them in a state of inferiority," the pope said.

Jesus, however, shows how freedom comes from finding fulfillment in loving God and one's neighbor, he said.

"This new humanity is born from the baptismal font," which is "the source of life that dwells within us and that, in a dynamic way, accompanies us with the utmost respect for our freedom," Pope Leo said.

Baptism is "dynamic," he said, "because it sets us on a journey again and again, since grace is an inner voice that urges us to conform ourselves to Jesus."

Baptism is about building a relationship, he said, as it "calls us to live in friendship with Jesus and, in this way, to enter into his communion with the Father."

"This grace-filled relationship enables us to live in authentic closeness with others, a freedom that -- unlike what the devil proposes to Jesus -- is not a search for power, but love that one gives and makes us all brothers and sisters," he said. 

Pope Leo noted the many challenges facing the neighborhood and praised the work of the Salesians and other church-run organizations ministering to young people and those in need.

It was his namesake, Pope Leo XIII, who asked St. John Bosco to build the basilica dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus that Pope Pius IX wanted built near the then-new railway station.

He encouraged the parish to continue to be "the leaven of the Gospel," a sign of "closeness and charity," and "a small flame of light and hope."

"May Mary, Help of Christians, always support our journey, make us strong in times of temptation and trial, so that we may fully live the freedom and fraternity of the children of God," he said.

Before praying the noonday Angelus, the pope again reflected on the day's Gospel reading of Jesus in the desert, where he fasted and resisted the temptations of the devil, showing "how we, too, can overcome the devil's deception and snares." 

"By means of prayer, fasting and almsgiving, we can renew our cooperation with the Lord in the crafting of our lives as a unique masterpiece," he said. "This involves allowing him to cleanse the stains and heal the wounds of sin, as we commit to letting our lives blossom in beauty until they attain the fullness of love -- the only source of true happiness."

"This is a demanding journey," he said, especially when there are promises of "easier paths to satisfaction, such as wealth, fame and power."

However, these temptations, which Jesus himself faced, "are merely poor substitutes for the joy for which we were created. Ultimately, they leave us dissatisfied, restless and empty," he said.

That is why penance, "far from impoverishing our humanity -- enriches, purifies and strengthens it," he said. "Indeed, while penance makes us aware of our limitations, it also grants us the strength to overcome them and to live, with God's help, in deeper communion with him and with one another."

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