On this Christmas Eve, Pope Francis opened the Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica, marking the beginning of the Jubilee 2025. Let’s delve into the history of the Holy Door and the significance of this solemn ritual that marks the start of the Holy Year.
The Holy Door of St. Peter’s
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Tonight, December 24, Christmas Eve, Pope Francis opened the Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica, officially beginning the Jubilee 2025. This act marks the start of the Holy Year. The Pontiff recited the “Ritus Ianuae Sanctae Aperiendae” in Latin and crossed the threshold to preside over the Christmas Eve Mass, followed by a procession of cardinals, bishops, and priests from all continents. Thousands of people in St. Peter’s Square witnessed the ceremony through large screens.
Days before the opening, the wall sealing the Holy Door is dismantled, revealing a box left from the previous Holy Year, the extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy proclaimed by Pope Francis in 2015. Inside the box lies the key to open the door, and Pope Francis symbolically pushes open the door. The Holy Door of St. Peter’s can be visited from December 25, 2024, Christmas Day, until its closure on January 6, 2026. Here are some historical insights into this solemnity and the locations of other Holy Doors in Rome’s papal basilicas.
The History and Significance of the Holy Door of St. Peter’s
The tradition of opening the Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica dates back to 1500 with Pope Alexander VI. Once opened, the Holy Door remains accessible to pilgrims throughout the Holy Year. This ritual is not only about gaining plenary indulgence but also about one’s journey of conversion. The Holy Door of St. Peter’s was a gift to Pope Pius XII from Francesco Von Streng, bishop of Lugano and Basel, and his community, as a thanksgiving for Switzerland being spared from war.
The sculptor Vico Consorti completed the Holy Door in eleven months, and it was inaugurated on Christmas Eve in 1949. The sixteen reliefs depict the story of man from “The Fall and Expulsion from the Garden of Eden” to the appearances of the Risen Christ to Thomas and the gathered Apostles, concluding with the image of Christ as the door of salvation.
The Papal Basilicas in Rome with Holy Doors
In addition to the Holy Door of St. Peter’s, there are others located within the papal basilicas of St. John Lateran, St. Paul Outside the Walls, and Santa Maria Maggiore. Originally, there was a single Holy Door at St. John Lateran, the cathedral of the Bishop of Rome.
