Each of the four patriarchal
basilicaThe Latin word basilica , was originally used to describe a Roman public building , usually located in the forum of a Roman town. In Hellenistic cities, public basilicas appeared in the 2nd century BC.Basilicas were also used for religious purposes...
s in
RomeRome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated municipality , with over 2.7 million residents in , while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat to be 3.46 million. The metropolitan area of Rome is estimated by OECD to have a population of 3.7 million...
has a
Holy door (Porta santa in Italian and
porta sancta in Latin). The doors are normally sealed shut from the inside so that they cannot be opened. They are opened during
JubileeThe concept of the Jubilee is a special year of remission of sins and universal pardon. In the Biblical book of Leviticus, a Jubilee year is mentioned to occur every fifty years, in which slaves and prisoners would be freed, debts would be forgiven and the mercies of God would be particularly...
years, when pilgrims enter through those doors to gain the plenary
indulgenceAn indulgence, in Catholic Theology, is the full or partial remission of temporal punishment due for sins which have already been forgiven. The indulgence is granted by the church after the sinner has confessed and received absolution. The belief is that indulgences draw on the storehouse of merit...
connected with the Jubilee.
It was formerly supposed that this rite was instituted by
Pope Alexander VIPope Alexander VI , born Roderic Llançol, later Roderic de Borja i Borja was Pope from 1492 to 1503. He is one of the most controversial of the Renaissance popes, and his surname became a byword for the debased standards of the papacy of that era...
in the Jubilee of 1500, but this is certainly a mistake.
Each of the four patriarchal
basilicaThe Latin word basilica , was originally used to describe a Roman public building , usually located in the forum of a Roman town. In Hellenistic cities, public basilicas appeared in the 2nd century BC.Basilicas were also used for religious purposes...
s in
RomeRome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated municipality , with over 2.7 million residents in , while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat to be 3.46 million. The metropolitan area of Rome is estimated by OECD to have a population of 3.7 million...
has a
Holy door (Porta santa in Italian and
porta sancta in Latin). The doors are normally sealed shut from the inside so that they cannot be opened. They are opened during
JubileeThe concept of the Jubilee is a special year of remission of sins and universal pardon. In the Biblical book of Leviticus, a Jubilee year is mentioned to occur every fifty years, in which slaves and prisoners would be freed, debts would be forgiven and the mercies of God would be particularly...
years, when pilgrims enter through those doors to gain the plenary
indulgenceAn indulgence, in Catholic Theology, is the full or partial remission of temporal punishment due for sins which have already been forgiven. The indulgence is granted by the church after the sinner has confessed and received absolution. The belief is that indulgences draw on the storehouse of merit...
connected with the Jubilee.
It was formerly supposed that this rite was instituted by
Pope Alexander VIPope Alexander VI , born Roderic Llançol, later Roderic de Borja i Borja was Pope from 1492 to 1503. He is one of the most controversial of the Renaissance popes, and his surname became a byword for the debased standards of the papacy of that era...
in the Jubilee of 1500, but this is certainly a mistake. Not to speak of a supposed vision of
Pope Clement VIPope Clement VI , bornPierre Roger, the fourth of the Avignon Popes, was pope from May 1342 until his death.-Biography:...
as early as 1350, who is said to have been supernaturally admonished to "open the door", there are several references to the "holy door" or the "golden gate" in connection with the Jubilee long before the year 1475. The earliest account seems to be that of the Spanish pilgrim, Pero Tafur, c. 1437. He connects the Jubilee indulgence with the right of sanctuary, which, he maintains, existed in pagan times for all who crossed the threshold of the
puerta tarpea upon the site of the Lateran. He goes on to say that, at the request of Constantine, Pope Sylvester I published a Bull proclaiming the same immunity from punishment for Christian sinners who took sanctuary there. The privilege, however, was grossly abused, and the Popes consequently ordered the door to be walled up at all seasons except during certain times of special grace. Formerly the door was unwalled only once in a hundred years, this was afterwards reduced to fifty, and now it is said to be "opened at the will of the Pope." However legendary all this may be, it is unlikely that the story could have been quite recently fabricated at the time Tafur recorded it. Moreover, a number of witnesses allude to the unwalling of the holy door in connection with the Jubilee of 1450. One of these, the Florentine merchant Giovanni Rucellai, speaks of the five doors of the Lateran basilica,
one of which is always walled up except during the Jubilee year, when it is broken down at ChristmasChristmas , also referred to as Christmas Day, is an annual holiday celebrated on December 25 that commemorates the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. The day marks the beginning of the larger season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days. The nativity of Jesus, which is the basis for the anno Domini...
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 (gli oltremontani) take them home as so many sacred relicA relic is an object or a personal item of religious significance, carefully preserved with an air of veneration as a tangible memorial. Relics are an important aspect of some forms of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Shamanism, and many other religions....
s… 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.
All this describes a rite which has lasted unchanged to the present day, and which has nearly always supplied the principal subject depicted upon the long series of Jubilee medals issued by the various Popes who have opened and closed the holy door at the beginning and end of each Jubilee year. Each of the four basilicas has its holy door. That of St. Peter's is opened on the
Christmas EveChristmas Eve, December 24, is the night before Christmas Day, which celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ.-Western Churches:Many Roman Catholics and Anglicans traditionally celebrate a midnight Mass which begins sometime before midnight on Christmas Day; this ceremony, which is held in churches...
preceding the
anno santo by the pontiff in person, and it is closed by him on the Christmas Eve following, using a special ornamental trowel to put the first bit of concrete. Until the
Great JubileeThe Great Jubilee in 2000 was a major event in the Roman Catholic Church, held from December 24, 1999 to January 6, 2001. Like other previous Jubilee years, it was a celebration of the mercy of God and forgiveness of sins...
of 2000, the Pope knocked upon the door three times with a silver hammer, singing the versicle "Open unto me the gates of justice". The masonry, which had been loosened beforehand, was made to fall in at the third blow. After the threshold was swept and washed by the Jubilee penitentiaries, the Pope entered first. Each of the holy doors at the other basilicas is similarly opened by a cardinal specially deputed for the purpose. The symbolism of this ceremony is probably closely connected with the idea of the exclusion of Adam and Eve from Paradise, and the expulsion and reconciliation of penitents according to the ritual provided in the Pontifical. But it may also have been influenced by the old idea of seeking sanctuary, as Tafur and Rucellai suggest. The sanctuary knocker of
Durham CathedralThe Cathedral Church of Christ, Blessed Mary the Virgin and St Cuthbert of Durham, commonly referred to as Durham Cathedral, in the city of Durham, England, is the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Durham. The Bishopric dates from 995, with the present cathedral being founded in AD 1093...
still remains to remind us of the important part which this institution played in the life of our forefathers.
Pope John Paul IIPope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła served as Supreme Pontiff of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death almost 27 years later. His was the second-longest pontificate; only Pope Pius IX served longer...
simplified the ceremony for the Great Jubilee of 2000. 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 BasilicaThe Papal Basilica of Saint Peter , officially known in Italian as the ' and commonly known as St. Peter's Basilica, is located within the Vatican City. St. Peter's Basilica has the largest interior of any Christian church in the world, holding 60,000 people. It is the symbolic "Mother church" of...
was opened by the Pope on December 24, 1999 while the doors of St. John Lateran and
St. Mary MajorThe Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major , is an ancient Roman Catholic Marian basilica of Rome. It is one of the four major or four papal basilicas, which, together with St. Lawrence outside the Walls, were formerly referred to as the five "patriarchal basilicas" of Rome , associated with the five...
were opened on December 25 and January 1, respectively. Breaking with tradition, the Pope opened both of these personally, rather than delegating this to a
cardinalA cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official, usually a bishop, of the Catholic Church. They are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope. The duties of the cardinals include attending the meetings of the College and making themselves available...
. The doors of
Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the WallsThe Papal Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls or St Paul-without-the-Walls is one of four churches considered to be the great ancient basilicas of Rome. As well as St Paul's, the Roman Catholic church counts among the four papal basilicas or major basilicas of Rome: the basilicas of St. John...
were opened in an
ecumenicalЁcumenism or Œcumenism now mainly refers to initiatives aimed at greater religious unity or cooperation....
ceremony on January 18, first day of the World Week of Prayer for Christian Unity by the Pope, the
Archbishop of CanterburyAlso see Leaders of ChristianityThe Archbishop of Canterbury is the chief bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury, the see that churches must be in communion with in order to be...
and a representative of the Ecumenical Patriarch. The door in St. Peter's was closed on January 6, 2001, with the others being closed one day earlier.
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 held the last two Jubilees, both plates indicate that he opened and closed the door.