Vatican issues clarification on Holy Doors during 2025 Jubilee

By Deborah Castellano Lubov

Ahead of the upcoming Ordinary Jubilee of 2025, Pope Francis, in his Bull of Indiction, entitled 'Spes non confundit' ('Hope does not disappoint'), indicated as the Holy Door "of St. Peter's Basilica and the other three Papal Basilicas, namely St. John Lateran, St. Mary Major, and St. Paul Outside the Walls, with the exception of the Holy Father's expressed desire to personally open a Holy Door in a prison 'to offer prisoners a concrete sign of closeness'."

This was reaffirmed in a note issued Thursday, 1 August, by the Dicastery for Evangelization's Section for Fundamental Questions regarding Evangelization in the World.

The note specifically provided guidance regarding the opening of the Holy Door in places besides Rome.

"Given the imminent start of the Jubilee 2025," the Dicastery's note began, "the question has recently been raised about the possibility of planning the configuration and opening of the Holy Door in Cathedral Churches, International and National Shrines, as well as in other particularly significant places of worship."

St. Peter's and Papal Basilicas

"In this regard, while sensitively considering the pastoral and devotional motivations that may have suggested such commendable aspiration," it continued, "it is nevertheless deemed necessary to recall the precise indications established by the Holy Father in the Bull Spes non confundit", which reasserts the sites of Holy Doors for the imminent Jubilee.

In the text, the Dicastery also took the opportunity to recall that "the peculiar and identifying sign of the Jubilee Year, as handed down since the first Jubilee of the year 1300, is the indulgence that 'intends to express the fullness of God's forgiveness which knows no bounds,' through the Sacrament of Penance and signs of charity and hope."

Given this, they urge faithful to consult "the particular places and different modalities indicated by the Decree of the Apostolic Penitentiary of May 13, 2024," in order to "fully live this moment of grace."

A Jubilee overview

In Spes non confundit, Pope Francis announced that the Jubilee Year will begin with the opening of the Holy Door of St Peter’s Basilica on Christmas Eve, 2024.

The Holy Door of Saint Peter’s Basilica is opened by the Pope only at the beginning of a Jubilee Year. It is usually the first door to be opened to indicate the beginning of the Holy Year. This first evidence of the rite happening in St Peter’s was in the year 1500 during the papacy of Alexander VI.

Later, on 29 December, the Pope will open the Holy Door of the Archbasilica of St John Lateran, the Cathedral of Rome. On the same day, every Cathedral and co-Cathedral throughout the world will have Mass celebrated by the local Bishop to mark the opening of the Jubilee.

On the Solemnity of Mary the Mother of God, 1 January 2025, Pope Francis will open the Holy Door for the Basilica of St Mary Major, with the Holy Door for the Basilica of St Paul’s Outside the Walls being opened on Sunday, 5 January, the Vigil of Epiphany.

“In the course of the year,” Pope Francis had written, “every effort should be made to enable the People of God to participate fully in its proclamation of hope in God’s grace and in the signs that attest to their efficacy.”

On 28 December 2025, the Jubilee will end in the particular Churches throughout the world, with the Holy Doors of St John Lateran, St Mary Major, and St Paul’s Outside the Walls being closed on that same date.

Finally, the Jubilee Year will formally conclude in Rome on the Solemnity of Epiphany, 6 January 2026.