(ZENIT News / Rome, 01.06.2026).- Records have been broken and the figures reflect it: 33.8 million people crossed the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica. The Ordinary Jubilee, which the Catholic Church celebrated from December 24, 2024 to January 6, 2026, evidences the global impact generated by this ecclesial event that the Church celebrates every 25 years.
According to the data referred to by the Organizing Committee, the ten countries from which the most pilgrims flocked to Rome during the Holy Year were:
1) Italy (36.34%)
2) United States (12.57%)
3) Spain (6.23%)
4) Brazil (4.67%)
5) Poland (3.69%)
6) Germany (3.16%)
7) United Kingdom (2.81%)
8) China (2.79%)
9) Mexico (2.37%)
10) France (2.31%)
The 25 countries from which most pilgrims arrived in Rome account for 90.3% of the total number of pilgrims. The other 15 are (in percentage order): Argentina, Canada, Portugal, Colombia, Australia, the Philippines, Slovakia, Indonesia, Austria, Taiwan, Switzerland, Chile, Peru, Ireland and the Netherlands.
By continent or geographical area, the percentages are as follows:
- Europe (62.63%)
- North America (16.54%)
- South America (9.44%)
- Asia (7.69%)
- Oceania (1.14%)
- Central American and the Caribbean (1.04%)
- Africa (0.95%)
- Middle East (0.46%)
These data are susceptible to interpretation: for example, it is understandable that Italians in particular, and Europeans in general, lead the list due to geographical proximity to the Vatican. Another factor is the economic, which made possible travel from countries with better purchasing power; another factor was the percentage of Catholic population in that country or region and finally the total population of that country.
On the other hand, the data reveals that there were two key moments from which the arrival of pilgrims soared: first the Conclave and the election of Leo XIV; and second, the Youth Jubilee, which was the Jubilee event most attended of the whole the year.
