By Courtney Mares
Vatican City, Dec 26, 2024 / 12:45 pm
From inside the walls of Rome’s largest prison, Christmas hymns rang out as inmates and prison guards together sang “Silent Night” and exchanged the sign of peace during an intimate Mass led by Pope Francis to mark a historic moment — the first opening of a jubilee Holy Door within a prison.
The pope’s Thursday Mass in Rome’s Rebibbia Prison Complex on the feast of St. Stephen — the first Christian martyr — marked a profound beginning to the Catholic Church’s Jubilee of Hope, symbolizing redemption and the possibility of new beginnings for the inmates.
The pope’s visit began with a solemn ritual as he stood from his wheelchair to knock six times on the bronze Holy Door of the prison chapel, the “Church of the Our Father.” On the other side of the threshold, the church was filled with about 100 inmates as well as police officers, chaplains, volunteers, prison guards, and their families who had all been eagerly awaiting the pope’s arrival since before sunrise.
“The first Holy Door I opened at Christmas in St. Peter’s. I wanted the second one to be here, in a prison,” Pope Francis told the inmates on Dec. 26. “I wanted each of us here, inside and out, to have the possibility of throwing open the door of our hearts and understanding that hope doesn’t disappoint.”
Welcome to Rome’s Fifth Holy Door at Rebibbia Prison
As pilgrims flock to Rome to pass through the Holy Doors in the historic basilicas of the Eternal City, there is a fifth Holy Door that stands apart. This unique door is accessible only to inmates and staff at Rebibbia Prison, a place Pope Francis has called “a cathedral of pain and hope.”
Paolo Impagliazzo, the secretary-general of the Catholic Community of Sant’Egidio, has been volunteering in the prison ministry at Rebibbia for the past two decades. He shared that there are more than 1,500 inmates at Rebibbia, and a select group of prisoners involved in the prison chaplaincy and Mass were chosen to participate in the papal Mass.
Impagliazzo mentioned that a prison minister had formed a small choir among the inmates who had been rehearsing together in the weeks leading up to the pope’s visit. The prisoners actively participated in the liturgy by presenting the gifts during the offertory, while the prison guards read the Scripture readings.
This moment in the Jubilee of Hope serves as a powerful reminder that the prisoners at Rebibbia are not defined by their mistakes. Instead, they are on a Christian journey alongside believers worldwide, forming a part of a larger community of faith.
