Holy door: Difference between revisions

A '''Holy Door''' ({{lang-la|Porta Sancta}}) is traditionally refers to 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.

In October 2015, [[Pope Francis]] brokeexpanded withthe tradition inby having each [[Roman Catholic]] [[Diocese#Catholic_ChurchCatholic Church|diocese]] throughout the world designate one or more local Holy Doors during the [[Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy]], so that Catholics could gain the plenary indulgences granted during the Jubilee year without having to travel to Rome.

One of the earliest accounts of the Holy Year dates back to a Spanish historian, traveler and pilgrim called [[Pedro Tafur]] in 1437. Tafur connects the Jubilee indulgence with the right of [[sanctuary]] for those who had escaped persecution. He also noted its existence in pagan times for all who crossed the threshold of the ''Puerta Tarpea'' previously upon the site of the [[Archbasilica of St. John Lateran]]. Accordingly, at the request of [[Constantine I of the Roman Empire|Emperor Constantine I]], [[Pope Sylvester I]] published a [[Papal Bull]] proclaiming the same immunity from punishment for Christian sinners who took sanctuary there. The privilege, however, was quickly abused and at some point was even commercialised resulting in popes consequently ordering the door to be sealed with a wall, only to be unsealed during Jubilee years.<ref>[http://aleteia.org/2015/11/30/when-is-a-door-not-a-door-when-its-a-holy-door/{{citation McDonald,needed|date=August Thomas L., "When is a Door Not Just a Door?", ''Aleteia'', November 30, 2015]</ref>2020}} The wall was destroyed and the door opened once in a hundred years. This was later reduced to fifty years and now "opened at the will of the Pope." .<ref name=Thurston>Thurston, Herbert. [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08531c.htm Thurston, Herbert. "Holy Year of Jubilee."]. ''The Catholic Encyclopedia]'' Vol. 8. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 13 February 2016</ref>

In 1450, the [[Florence|Florentine]] merchant Giovanni Rucellai of [[Viterbo]] cites that the first Jubilee door was opened in 1423 under the pontificate of [[Pope Martin V]].<ref>Marini, Piero. [httphttps://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/documents/ns_lit_doc_14121999_porta-santa_en.html Marini, Piero. "The Opening of the Holy Door",]. Vatican News Service, 1 December 1, 1999]</ref>

{{quoteQuote|"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…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/>}}

After closing the Holy Year on Christmas day 1950 [[Pope Pius XII]] replaced the wooden doors installed by [[Pope Benedict XIV]] in 1748, which had begun to fall into disrepair, with the 16-panelled [[bronze]] doors (carvedmodelled by [[Vico Consorti]] and cast by [[Ferdinando Marinelli Artistic Foundry]]) that are seen today.

[[File:Santa Maria Maggiore BW 4.JPG|thumb|The Holy Door at St.the Marychurch Majorof [[Santa Maria Maggiore]] in Rome]]

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 Hammenstede, Dom Albert, O.S.B., "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/>

In the papal bull, ''Incarnationis mysterium'' of November 29, November 1998, [[Pope John Paul II]] formally announced the [[Great Jubilee]] of 2000 saying that the Holy Door ""evokes the passage from sin to grace".<ref>[http://www.archgh.org/yearofmercy/holydoors/ "Holy Doors in the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston"]</ref> The Holy Door represents "a ritual expression of conversion".<ref>[http://pdxmercy.org/the-holy-doors "The Holy Doors in the Archdiocese of Portland, Oregon"]</ref>

"A Holy Door &nbsp;... is a visual symbol of internal renewal, which begins with the willing desire to make peace with God, reconcile with your neighbors, restore in yourself everything that has been damaged in the past, and reshape your heart through conversion."<ref>[http://www.sanctuairesquebec.com/en/notre-dame-de-quebec-basilica-cathedral/sanctuaire/holy-door "What is a Holy Door?",] Notre-Dame de Quebec Basilica Cathedral]</ref>

In 1975, [[Pope Paul VI]], in light of the modernising changes of the [[Second Vatican Council]], revised the rite by removing the use of [[trowel]] and ornate bricks at the closing rite.

[[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.

Until the [[Great Jubilee]] of 2000, the Pope knocked upon the door three times with a silver hammer, singing the [[versicle]] "Open unto me the gates of justice".

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 hethey 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]]]]

In announcing the [[Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy]] Pope Francis declared, "The Holy Door will become a Door of Mercy through which anyone who enters will experience the love of God who consoles, pardons, and instills hope."<ref>Pope Francis, [http://www.im.va/content/gdm/en/giubileo/bolla.html Pope Francis, "Misericordiae Vultus"] §3, 11 April 11, 2015]</ref> On 8 December 8, 2015, Pope Francis opened the Holy Door of Mercy in the Basilica of St. Peter, marking the official start of the Jubilee Year of Mercy. A few days later, he presided at the opening of the Holy Door at the Archbasilica of St John Lateran. The Holy Door at [[Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls|St Paul’sPaul's Outside “Outside-the-Walls” Walls]] was opened by the Archpriest of that Basilica, Cardinal James Harvey. Pope Francis later opened the Holy Door at St Mary Major and at the Caritas center near Rome’sRome's central train station.<ref>[http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-francis-opens-holy-door-at-st-mary-major "Pope Francis opens Holy Door at St Mary Major"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171209044416/http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-francis-opens-holy-door-at-st-mary-major |date=9 December 2017 }}, News.va, January 1, January 2016]</ref>

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 Harris, Elise. "Holy Door in St. Peter's basilica to open for first time in 15 years for Holy Year of Mercy"], Catholic.org, 20 November 20, 2015]</ref> On 29 November 29, 2015, prior to the official December 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 29, 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 Vogt, Andrea. "Cathedrals around world throw open Holy Doors on orders of Pope"], ''The Telegraph'', 13 December 13, 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>

[[File:Catedral de Santiago de Compostela. Puerta Santa.jpg|thumb| [[Holy door (Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela)|Holy Doordoor]], Santiago de Compostela]]

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

* [[Pope BenedictAlexander XVIIII]] granted athis holy doorprivilege to the [[Pontifical UniversityCathedral of SantoSantiago Tomasde Compostela]] in [[ManilaGalicia, PhilippinesSpain]] onby 21pontifical Decemberdecree 2010,through tohis honourpapal thebull university's'Regis 400th anniversaryÆterni'' on 2825 AprilJuly 20111178, the [[Feast of Saint James]], principal patron of [[Spaniards]].

|+ Holy Doors of the Worldworld designated by the Holy See

!Designated Locationlocation

|align=left|[[Ars-sur-Formans|Sanctuary of the Curé of Ars]]<ref>Designated by Pope Benedict XVI in July 2007 for opening on 8 December 2009 - Holy Year for Priests</ref>

{{reflistReflist}}