Holy Door of Papal Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls opened

By Amedeo Lomonaco

“I was glad when they said to me, 'Let us go to the house of the Lord!' Our feet are standing within your gates, O Jerusalem.” The words of the Psalmist and the sound of the horn accompanied the opening rite of the last Holy Door to be opened, found in the Papal Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls, presided over on Sunday 5 January by Cardinal Archpriest James Michael Harvey. 

The sequence of moments and images echoed what has already been experienced in the start of the Jubilee of Hope, beginning at Saint Peter's Basilica, Rome's Rebibbia prison, and the Basilicas of Saint John Lateran and Saint Mary Major. The gaze of the faithful, before entering the Basilica that holds the relics of the Apostle of the Gentiles, turned towards the cross at the top of the tympanum of the mosaic facade. Beneath this symbol of life overcoming death and sin are two words in Latin: ‘Spes unica’, words stating the certainty that Christ is the hope, the Door to enter the Kingdom of God.

Opening of the Holy Door

In the Basilica of Saint Paul, located on the Via Ostiense in the district of the same name near the left bank of the Tiber and a few kilometres from the place where the Apostle suffered martyrdom, the opening rite of the Holy Door was marked by prayer. Cardinal Harvey approached the Holy Door, on the right side of the façade, made of bronze with bas-reliefs depicting significant episodes in the life of Saint Paul. He then opened the door to a prayerful silence from the faithful. The ringing of the Basilica bells preceded the next moments.

Cardinal Harvey crossed the threshold as the Jubilee hymn resounded. The procession, which was also joined by members of the monastic community of Saint Paul Outside the Walls, made its way to the Altar of Confession. The Cardinal Archpriest, together with, among others, Archbishop Rino Fisichella, Pro-Prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelisation and organiser of the Jubilee, walked down the nave of the basilica. The Eucharistic celebration was attended by over 2,800 people.

Papal Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls

Joy and hope

Faithful and pilgrims listened to the passage from John's Gospel on the incarnation of the Word who "came to dwell among us." In his homily Cardinal Harvey dwelt on the opening of the Holy Door, "an act that is as simple as it is evocative." "We have crossed the threshold of the sacred temple with immense joy, because in a symbolic way, we have passed through the door of hope." He highlighted two key words of the Holy Year: joy and hope. "Joy," said Cardinal Harvey, "because the Saviour has been born; hope because Christ is our hope."

Forgiveness and mercy

Joy, "the right sentiment for the gift of Redemption in Jesus Christ," unites the times experienced by the Church and the people of God at this present moment, he observed. The joy for the Christmas season is in fact accompanied this year by the Jubilee, a journey that finds in forgiveness the star for all the steps people take. "The opening of the Holy Door," he continued in his homily, "marks the salvific passage opened by Christ through His incarnation, death, and resurrection, calling all members of the Church to be reconciled with God and with one another."

Crossing the threshold of the Holy Door with faith means entering "the time of mercy and forgiveness, so that...the way of hope that does not disappoint may be opened to every woman and man." He emphasised "how much we need hope right now! In this post-pandemic period, unfortunately wounded by tragedies, wars, and crises of various kinds, hope, though undoubtedly linked to the future, is also experienced in the present."

Pilgrims of hope

He recalled Pope Francis' catechesis at a recent General Audience when he underscored that hope "“is not an empty word, or a vague wish of ours that things may turn out for the best;" rather, "hope is a certainty, because it is founded on God’s fidelity to His promises." 

Hope should not be thought of as "a passive virtue," he continued, a time when one "merely waits for things to happen." It is actually, as the Pope in his catechesis emphasised, "a supremely active virtue that helps to make things happen." 

The Jubilee of 2025, like every Holy Year, asks us to become pilgrims, Cardinal Harvey concluded, and that involves "feeling part of a community that for two thousand years has travelled the roads of this world, proclaiming the resurrection of the Lord Jesus." The Church invites each pilgrim "to undertake a spiritual journey in the footsteps of faith." He prayed "may the Holy Spirit...accompany our steps in this pilgrimage of faith, steadfast in the hope that does not disappoint."