Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica unveiled for Jubilee of Mercy
(Vatican Radio) The Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica on Tuesday evening was freed of the brick wall which has hidden it since the Holy Year of 2000.
The Recognitio ceremony took place on Tuesday evening and was led by the Basilica’s Cardinal Archpriest Angelo Comastri.
After a procession and short prayer service led by Cardinal Comastri, workers began to carefully remove the wall, extracting a small, metal box which conserved mementos from the Great Jubilee of the year 2000.
The zinc box contained several documents certifying the closure of the Holy Door at the end of the last Holy Year. Also included were the keys which will allow Pope Francis to open the Holy Door on December 8th of this year, as well as the parchment deed, some bricks, and several commemorative medals.
Also present for the event were the Master of Ceremonies of St. Peter’s Basilica, Mons. Guido Marini, who received the documents and objects of the Recognitio ceremony, and Archbishop Rino Fisichella, President of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelisation.
Holy Doors will also be at the other major basilicas of Rome: St. John Lateran, St. Mary Major, St. Paul’s Outside the Walls.
For the Jubilee Year of Mercy, Pope Francis has also asked for Holy Doors to be established at Rome’s Sanctuary of Our Lady of Divine Love, and the Diocese of Rome’s Caritas Hostel on Via Marsala.