Rites of passage: Rome’s Holy Doors and Jubilee years
Thomas Edwards• February 14, 2025
On Sunday, 5 January, at the start of 2025, Pope Francis opened the final Holy Door in Rome for the Jubilee year in the grand basilica of Saint Paul’s Outside the Walls.
For centuries, these special doors that exist in the four major Papal basilicas have marked the beginning of a sacred journey – a rite of passage for spiritual renewal.
Traditionally, Rome’s Holy Doors are found in St. Peter’s, St. Mary Major, St. John Lateran, and Saint Paul’s Outside the Walls. Outside Jubilee Years, they are sealed with bricks, ceremoniously torn down during their openings.
Since their inception, Holy Doors have symbolised the pilgrimage to Rome’s basilicas and the receiving of plenary indulgences. In addition to the symbolism, these doors then serve as the physical entry point for Catholics seeking the plenary indulgence – a way to relieve oneself of time in purgatory for all past sins – attached to visiting one of these basilicas during a Jubilee Year.
Quantifying the number of pilgrims passing through these doors is challenging, but records indicate half a million participated in the Jubilee of 1700, while the Great Jubilee of 2000 drew an astonishing 24.5 million visitors.
I was fortunate to pass through two Holy Doors in one day: St. Peter’s and St. Mary Major (St. John’s had been closed to make way for a papal Mass, and St. Paul’s had not yet been opened during my visit). Witnessing thousands of faithful Catholics guided through by an army of volunteers was both invigorating and surreal.
Like many a good Christian tradition, Jubilee Years draw inspiration and influence from various sources. There is a rather obscure Old Testament passage (Leviticus 25:10) that says: “Consecrate the fiftieth year…It shall be a jubilee for you”). They likely have pagan roots, while have also emerged as expressions of Christian popular piety.
Either way, by the medieval period, they had received papal approval. They have always been associated with the remission of sins, though the Hebrew practice of canceling financial debts during a Jubilee year has regrettably fallen out of favour.
Before Jubilee years became formalised in Western Christianity, the idea of solemnising a fiftieth anniversary was already well established. For instance, 50 years after Thomas Becket’s death, his remains were transferred to a specially built chapel within Canterbury Cathedral, an event witnessed by thousands of pilgrims and international ecclesiastical dignitaries. Monks often celebrated the 50th anniversary of their religious profession with particular solemnity.
The first formalised Jubilee year was proclaimed by Pope Boniface VIII in 1300. Inspired by aged pilgrims who claimed historical precedent, he issued the Bull Antiquorum fida relatio, declaring “the fullest pardon of their sins to all who, during this present year of 1300…and in every subsequent hundredth year, visit the said Basilicas [St. Peter’s and St. Paul’s Outside the Walls].”
This inaugural Jubilee certainly left its mark on history. Dante makes reference to it in the Divine Comedy, and the crowds gathering in Rome made such an impression on the young Giovanni Villani he decided to write his Cronica.
Initially intended as a centennial event, the Jubilee cycle was shortened after St. Bridget of Sweden argued that a once-in-a-century occurrence would exclude many from ever experiencing one. Pope Clement VI declared the second Jubilee in 1350. As an Avignon Pope, he did not attend but he added St. John Lateran Basilica – to St. Peter’s and St. Paul’s Outside the Walls – as a Jubilee pilgrimage site. St. Mary Major was introduced in the following Jubilee year.
Deliberations over the frequency of Jubilees continued until 1475 when Pope Paul II decreed they should occur every 25 years. Since then, with an interruption caused by the unstable political situation of Rome in the mid-nineteenth century, Jubilee years have been celebrated every quarter-century.
In addition to regular Jubilees, Popes occasionally announce “extraordinary” Jubilees for special occasions. For example, Pope Pius XI called one in 1933 to commemorate the 1900th anniversary of Jesus’s death.
In 2015, Pope Francis announced an Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, during which thousands more Holy Doors were opened worldwide, at the discretion of local dioceses. This Jubilee year, however, the tradition has returned to its roots, limiting Holy Doors to Rome’s core four. Yet, in his characteristic concern for the marginalised, Pope Francis also opened a fifth Holy Door at Rebibbia New Complex Prison in Rome.
Much is made of Christianity’s decline. A.N. Wilson likened these grand buildings to stars that still shine despite having died light-years ago. Yet, in moments like this, the Church feels far from extinguished, as thousands partake in this ancient ritual.
It can be easy to look at the closing of your local St. Thomas More parish or a Catholic men’s working club and despair at the dying of the Catholic religion. However, the Northern Hemisphere’s experience is not universal. While Europe sees emptying pews, the Global South is building churches.
During the 20th century, the Catholic population in Sub-Saharan Africa grew by a staggering 6,708 per cent. In 2019, African ordinations surpassed Europe’s for the first time. Africa now trains 34,000 priests, accounting for 31 per cent of global seminarians. In Nigeria, 95 per cent of Catholics attend weekly Mass, compared to less than 20 per cent in Italy.
If Europeans continue to not have children, and Catholics in Italy continue to find better things to do on Sunday mornings, the centre of the Church may one day more logically exist in Lagos. But it is still very difficult, even with its current trajectory, to see a day in which it does not exist at all in Europe, or in which Rome is irrelevant.
Pragmatically, for those visiting Rome this year, the decision to enter the city’s major religious attractions through a Holy Door should be straightforward. Catholics can embrace a rare opportunity to partake in some of our faith’s most profound spiritual treasures.
For others, the free pilgrim’s pass, available on the official Jubilee website, grants access through the Holy Doors and lets you skip to the front of the security line – a small but practical blessing in a city bracing for 35 million visitors this year.
RELATED: Pope Francis opens the Holy Door at St Peter’s Basilica ahead of the 2025 Year of Jubilee
Photo: Cardinal James Michael Harvey opens the Holy Door of the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls during a ceremony for the Jubilee Year, Rome, 5 January 2025. The theme of the Jubilee Year 2025 is ‘Pilgrims of Hope’. (Photo by REMO CASILLI/POOL/AFP via Getty Images.)