These Holy Doors include St. Peter’s Basilica, the other three Papal Basilicas (St. John Lateran, St. Mary Major, and St. Paul Outside the Walls), and a prison.

Vatican City (01/08/2024 14:01, Gaudium Press The Dicastery for Evangelization, the Vatican department responsible for fundamental questions of evangelization worldwide, released a statement on Thursday, August 1, regarding the opening of Holy Doors during the 2025 Jubilee.

The note raises the issue of the possible opening of Holy Doors in Cathedrals, International and National Sanctuaries, and other particularly significant places of worship, similar to what occurred during the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy in 2015.

 Pope Francis Guidelines

Regarding this, the dicastery emphasizes that, while considering the pastoral and devotional motivations that may have suggested this laudable aspiration, it is necessary to recall the precise guidelines established by Pope Francis in the Bull ‘Spes non confundit’ (Bull of Proclamation of the Ordinary Jubilee Year 2025).

The pontifical document designates the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica and the other three Papal Basilicas: St. John Lateran, St. Mary Major, and St. Paul Outside the Walls. The only exception is the Holy Door that will be opened in a prison, fulfilling Pope Francis’ expressed desire to “offer prisoners a concrete sign of closeness.”

God’s Forgiveness Knows No Limits

“It is also known that a peculiar and identifying sign of the Jubilee Year, as has been passed down since the first Jubilee of the year 1300, is the indulgence that ‘intends to express the fullness of God’s forgiveness that knows no limits’ (cf. n. 23), through the Sacrament of Penance and signs of charity and hope,” the statement clarifies.

Finally, the note concludes by recalling that to fully experience this moment of grace, it is necessary to refer to the particular places and various modalities indicated by the Decree of the Apostolic Penitentiary of May 13, 2024. (EPC)

Compiled by Gustavo Kralj