The Church’s Jubilee Year of Hope – a time of grace that invited Catholics to conversion, reconciliation and hope – has concluded, with Pope Leo XIV closing the Holy Door of St Peter’s Basilica. Source: National Catholic Register.
On Sunday, January 6, the Pope knelt before the door and remained for a few minutes in silent prayer. He then rose and then shut the two large bronze doors — a gesture that visibly marked the end of the Jubilee season.
“With thankful hearts we now prepare to close this Holy Door, crossed by a multitude of faithful, certain that the Good Shepherd always keeps the door of his heart open to welcome us whenever we feel weary and oppressed,” the Pope said in an address before the concluding gesture that ended the ecclesial event, ordinarily held every 25 years to offer the faithful the possibility of obtaining a plenary indulgence.
With these words, Pope Leo emphasised that even though the Jubilee has ended, God’s mercy remains ever open to believers.
Before closing the doors, the Pope pronounced in Latin the formula prescribed by the rite, following a practice established in 1975 and later simplified by St John Paul II during the Jubilee in 2000.
In keeping with the simplified celebration, the public rite did not include the portion involving the construction of a brick wall and was limited to the closing of the bronze doors. The masonry work will be carried out at a later date.
Pope Leo recited the prayer of thanksgiving for the ordinary Holy Year, proclaiming: “This Holy Door is closed, but the door of your mercy is not closed.”
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Pope Leo XIV Closes St Peter’s Holy Door, Concluding Jubilee of Hope (National Catholic Register)
