"I wanted all of us, inside or out, to have an opportunity to throw open the doors of our hearts and understand that hope does not disappoint."

Pope Francis urged inmates to never give up hope as he inaugurated the Vatican’s Jubilee Year at the high-security Rebibbia prison on the outskirts of Rome on Thursday.

Pope Francis, marking the Holy Year of the Catholic Church on Thursday, opened the symbolic Holy Door at a prison in Rome, offering a message of hope and forgiveness to inmates. The 88-year-old Catholic pontiff told the prisoners during the ceremony not to lose hope.