16/10/2025

PRESS RELEASE

ON 18 OCTOBER, JUBILEE OF THE ROMA, SINTI AND TRAVELLING PEOPLES

THE INITIATIVES WILL CONTINUE ON SUNDAY 19 OCTOBER, ORGANIZED BY THE DICASTERY FOR PROMOTING INTEGRAL HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

(Vatican City, 16 October 2025) – On Saturday 18 October the Jubilee of the Roma, Sinti and Travelling Peoples will be held in Rome, to be attended by approximately 4000 pilgrims, from over 70 countries in Europe and throughout the world. The Jubilee event is organized in collaboration with the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, the Migrantes Foundation (Italian Episcopal Conference), the Sant’Egidio Community, the Vicariate of the Diocese of Rome, and some representatives for the pastoral care of Roma and Sinti peoples.

At 10.00 on Saturday 18 October, the pilgrims will gather in the Paul VI Hall for a meeting involving testimonies, artistic representations, music and moments of prayer, and will be based on the theme: “Hope is itinerant: my father and mother were wandering Arameans” (cf. Dt 26:5).

The event will be led by Maris Milanese, presenter for TV2000, with Eva Rizzin, of Sinti origin and scientific director of the National Observatory on Antiziganism in Verona, and Amadeus Giordan Halilovic, university student at John Cabot University in Rome, with Roma roots, engaged in cultural and social projects aimed at telling the story of who the Roma really are. Artists from Italy, Romania, France, Spain and Slovenia will take turns on stage. Mid-morning, Pope Leo XIV will arrive at the Nervi Hall to meet with the Roma, Sinti and travelling peoples, and to pray with the pilgrims.

Cardinal Fabio Baggio, C.S., Undersecretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, and Msgr. Gian Carlo Perego, President of the Migrantes Foundation, will also be present and will lead some moments of prayer. The event will conclude with a pilgrimage to the Holy Door of Saint Peter’s Basilica, between 14.00 and 18.00.

Then, on Sunday 19 October, at 10.30, the pilgrims will participate in Holy Mass at the Shrine of Divine Love, presided over by Cardinal Baggio and animated by melodies by some Roma and Sinti musicians. This will be followed by a moment of prayer dedicated to Blessed Ceferino Gimenez Malla, the first Gitane martyr to the faith, shot in 1936 during the Spanish Civil War and thrown in a mass grave for having defended a young priest.

The day will conclude with a celebration and social lunch near the Shrine.

PRESS OFFICE – JUBILEE 2025

Dicastery for Evangelization
Section for Fundamental Questions regarding Evangelization in the World, press@iubilaeum2025.va