Holy door: Difference between revisions

{{About|Holy Doors in the Roman Catholic tradition|holy doors in the Eastern Orthodox or Greek-Catholic traditions|Royal doors}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2014}}

A '''Holy Door''' ({{lang-la|Porta Sancta}}) is traditionally an entrance portal located within the [[Pope|Papal]] [[major basilica]]s in [[Rome]]. The doors are normally sealed by mortar and cement from the inside so that they cannot be opened. They are ceremoniously opened during [[Jubilee (Christian)|Jubilee]] years designated by the Pope, for pilgrims who enter through those doors may piously gain the [[plenary indulgence]]s attached with the Jubilee year celebrations.

 

 

==History==

{{Quote|One of which is always walled up except during the Jubilee year, when it is broken down at Christmas when the Jubilee commences. The devotion which the populace has for the bricks and mortar of which it is composed is such that at the unwalling, the fragments are immediately carried off by the crowd, and the foreigners take them home as so many sacred [[relic]]s&nbsp;... Out of devotion every one who gains the indulgence passes through that door, which is walled up again as soon as the Jubilee is ended.<ref name=Thurston/>}}

 

 

[[File:Scuola romana, medaglia di gregorio XIII, 1575, giubileo, porta santa.JPG|thumb|Jubilee commemorative medal of Gregory XIII, 1575]]

 

==Symbolism==

In John 10:9, Jesus is quoted as saying, "I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved."<ref>[http://www.bostoncatholic.org/Offices-And-Services/Office-Detail.aspx?id=31890&pid=31886 Gsapar, Jonathan. "Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy", Archdiocese of Boston]</ref> In Luke 11:9 is found, "And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." Revelations 3:20 says, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, (then) I will enter his house and dine with him, and he with me." Dom Albert Hammenstede O.S.B. noted that [[Ostiarius|Porter]] was one of the [[minor orders]].<ref>Hammenstede, Dom Albert, O.S.B. [https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=3295 "On the Symbolism of Holy Doors"].</ref> [[Herbert Thurston]] suggests that "the symbolism of this ceremony may also have been influenced by the old idea of seeking sanctuary".<ref name=Thurston/>

 

 

==After the Second Vatican Council==

 

[[Pope John Paul II]] further simplified the ceremony for the Great Jubilee of 2000 for safety reasons; previously, debris had fallen on [[Pope Paul VI]] while striking down the door. Workers had removed the concrete before the ceremony of the opening of the door so that the Pope only had to push on the doors with his hands. The holy door of [[St. Peter's Basilica]] was opened by the Pope on 24 December 1999 while the doors of [[Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano|St. John Lateran]] and [[Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore|St. Mary Major]] were opened on 25 December and 1 January, respectively. Breaking with tradition, the Pope opened both of these personally, rather than delegating this to a [[cardinal (Catholicism)|cardinal]]. The doors of the [[Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls]] were opened in an [[Ecumenism|ecumenical]] ceremony on 18 January, first day of the World Week of Prayer for Christian Unity by the Pope, the [[Archbishop of Canterbury]] and a representative of the [[Ecumenical Patriarch]]. The door in St. Peter's was closed on 6 January 2001, with the others being closed one day earlier.

 

 

Above the holy door in St. Peter's are marble memorial plates commemorating the last two times that the door has been opened. Since John Paul II and Francis held the last two Jubilees, both plates indicate that they opened and closed the door.

[[File:Holy Door - Metropolitan Cathedral of San Fernando.jpg|thumb|The holy door of the [[Metropolitan Cathedral of San Fernando (Pampanga)|Metropolitan Cathedral of San Fernando]] for the [[Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy|Holy Year of Mercy]]]]

[[File:Burgos holy door jubilee of mercy.jpg|thumb|The holy door of [[Burgos Cathedral]] (Spain) for the [[Holy Year of Mercy]]]]

 

Francis broke with tradition in removing the necessity of traveling to Rome.<ref name=vogt/> In October 2015, a temporal privilege was extended by Pope Francis through the [[Papal bull]] of Indiction, ''"Misericordiae Vultus"'' for an ordinary bishop to designate his own Holy Door for the purpose of the "Jubilee Year of Mercy". Holy Doors were to be designated in every diocese throughout the world, and could be located at the diocesan [[Cathedral]] or at other popular church shrines.<ref>Harris, Elise. [http://www.catholic.org/news/hf/faith/story.php?id=65469 "Holy Door in St. Peter's basilica to open for first time in 15 years for Holy Year of Mercy"], Catholic.org, 20 November 2015</ref> On 29 November 2015, prior to the official 8 December start of the Jubilee Year of Mercy, Pope Francis opened the Holy Door at the [[Cathédrale Notre-Dame (Bangui)|Cathédrale Notre-Dame]] in [[Bangui]], [[Central African Republic]].<ref>[http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2015/11/29/pope_opens_holy_door_at_mass_in_bangui_cathedral/1190630 "Pope opens Holy Door at Mass in Bangui cathedral"], Radiovaticana.va, 29 November 2015</ref> Holy Doors were subsequently opened in 40 different countries around the world, including locations such as [[Westminster Cathedral]], [[Prinknash Abbey]] in Gloucestershire,<ref name=vogt>Vogt, Andrea. [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/12048539/Cathedrals-around-world-throw-open-Holy-Doors-on-orders-of-Pope.html "Cathedrals around world throw open Holy Doors on orders of Pope"], ''The Telegraph'', 13 December 2015</ref> and [[St. Paul's Basilica]] in Toronto.<ref>[https://www.archtoronto.org/mercy/Pages/Holy-Doors-in-the-Archdiocese-of-Toronto.aspx "Holy Doors in the Archdiocese of Toronto"]</ref>

 

==Other Holy Doors canonically designated by the Holy See==

The following is a list of Holy Doors designated in perpetuity by the [[Holy See]].

 

* [[Pope Benedict XVI]] granted the privilege of opening a holy door to the Sanctuary of Saint John Vianney, Cure of Ars, in [[Formans]], [[France]] in July 2007 for the 150th memorial death anniversary of [[Saint John Vianney]].

* [[Pope Benedict XVI]] granted a holy door to the [[Pontifical University of Santo Tomas]] in [[Manila, Philippines]] on 21 December 2010, to honour the university's 400th anniversary in 2011.

|align=left|[[Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls]]

|align=left|[[Rome]]

|{{flagicon|ITA}}

|-

|{{flagicon|PHI}}

|-

|align=left|[[Ars-sur-Formans]], [[France]]

|{{flagicon|FRA}}

{{Authority control}}

 

[[Category:Catholic liturgy]]

[[Category:Christian religious objects]]