Jesus is the door

Editorial Staff

The words “Holy” and “Door” have a special significance because they represent spiritual symbols. According to many historians the tradition - started on 1423 when the Pope opened the Holy Door of the Archbasilica of Saint John in Lateran for the first time in the jubilee years. But according to other documents the Holy Door was opened for the first time by the Pope Clemens VI in 1350 on the occasion of the Second Jubilee.

In the Vatican Basilica the opening of the Holy Door is first mentioned at Christmas 1499. On that occasion Pope Alexander VI desired the Holy Door to be opened not only at Saint John Lateran but in the other Roman Basilicas as well: Saint Peter’s, Saint Mary Major and Saint Paul’s Outside the Walls. Since then the symbolic meaning of the Holy Door has been confirmed.

It is not only the pilgrimage destination during the Jubilee: the symbol of the Holy Door is rooted in the chapter 10 of the Gospel of John: “Amen, amen, I say to you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came [before me] are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture”... the Holy Door represents the passage to salvation - the path to a new and eternal life, which was opened to humanity by Jesus. It also symbolizes an entryway to God’s mercy - the ultimate and supreme act by which. He comes to meet people.

The door is at the same time a border and a link. On one side (the border) it underlines the difference between those who are inside and those who are outside, on the other side the Door opened in occasion of the Jubilee not only invites the community of the worshippers to enter but everyone “todos, todos, todos” as Pope Francis often repeats.

Crossing the threshold of hope one takes off the old man and puts on the new man to follow Jesus who will lead us to eternal life.