In these days, the Holy Doors that were opened for the Holy Year are closing one after another. At least 30 million pilgrims have taken advantage of the opportunity to supposedly be freed from all sins.
First, in Rome, the Holy Door in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, an external sign of the Holy Year of the Catholic Church, was closed on Thursday, writes Deutsche WelleAt the beginning of the ceremony, the cardinal Rolandas Makrickas, the abbot of the largest Marian church in Rome, prayed in front of the left portal, and then closed it in silence.
More than 20 million pilgrims passed through the Holy Door of this basilica in the center of Rome, near Rome's main train station, last year. Many of them also visited the church to pay their respects at the tomb of the pope. Fringe who died on Easter Monday and who, at his own request, was buried there.
The so-called Holy Doors, the large doors at the four papal basilicas in Rome, are closed in "normal" years and are only opened in years that have been declared holy. As a rule, this should be every 25 years so that every believer can make a pilgrimage to Rome at least once, maybe twice, in their lifetime. But that is the theory, and the practice is that Holy Years are what the Pope says they are: in the last 60 years there have been as many as 6 Holy Years because, in addition to the regular ones, the Pope Paul VI. (1966.), John Paul II (1983) and then Pope Francis (2016) also designated extraordinary Holy Years.
Millions of believers freed from all sins?
Passing through the Holy Door, according to Catholic doctrine, in conjunction with confession and other conditions, is a prerequisite for the remission of temporal punishment for sins. Pilgrims have been an important source of income for Rome since ancient times, and to obtain forgiveness of sins it was necessary to pass through all four doors of the papal basilicas. Given the extensive security measures still in place in the Vatican, this often meant long queues.
The next Holy Door closed yesterday, Saturday, December 27, in the Lateran Basilica – the cathedral and seat of the Pope before the complex we know today as the Vatican was built. The ceremony was led by the Cardinal Vicar of the Pope for the Diocese of Rome, Baldassare Reina.
This Sunday, the cardinal James Harvey, as the head of that papal church, he closes the Holy Doors of the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls as part of a solemn service. The second largest church in Rome stands on the site where, according to tradition, the Apostle Paul is buried.
The most famous Holy Door remains open for more than a week for pilgrims
The most famous and most visited Holy Door, the one in St. Peter's Basilica, will remain open for more than a week to pilgrims. In the end, according to organizers, significantly more people will pass through it during the 54 weeks than the planned 32 million - the Vatican announced in mid-December that so many pilgrims had passed through it so far. That will then be the end of the Holy Year that Pope Francis opened last Christmas Eve.
His successor Leo XIV. will personally lead the ceremony for the ceremonial closing of the bronze wings of St. Peter's Basilica during the Epiphany celebrations on Tuesday, January 6th.
Source: N1
Photos: vaticannews.va
