American cardinal opens final jubilee Holy Door in Rome

Rome, Italy, Jan 5, 2025 / 10:42 am

American Cardinal James Harvey opened the Holy Door at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls on Sunday, completing the opening of all five Holy Doors in Rome for the Catholic Church’s 2025 Jubilee of Hope.

Pilgrims who visit Rome during the jubilee, a holy year celebrated every 25 years, will have the opportunity to receive a plenary indulgence by passing through the doors.

“The opening of the Holy Door marks the salvific passage opened by Christ through his incarnation, death, and resurrection, calling all members of the Church to be reconciled with God and with one another,” Harvey said.

The ceremony began in the basilica’s column-lined courtyard with the ancient sound of a shofar, a ram’s horn historically used by the ancient Israelites to announce jubilee years, as recorded in the Bible.

Harvey offered a prayer, asking that Christians live the jubilee year with the faith of the Apostle Paul, “so that captivated by the love of Christ and converted by his mercy we may proclaim to the world the Gospel of grace.”

He then pushed open the heavy bronze doors, pausing for a moment of silent prayer at the threshold before entering as the congregation sang the jubilee hymn “Pilgrims of Hope.”

Harvey, a Milwaukee native and archpriest of the basilica, presided over the Mass for the opening of the Holy Door. The 75-year-old cardinal formerly served as the prefect of the papal household for Pope John Paul II and Benedict XVI.

“With the opening of the Holy Door this morning at the Papal Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls … we crossed the threshold of the sacred temple with immense joy because, in a symbolic way, we passed through the door of hope,” Harvey said during his homily.

The Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, one of Rome’s four papal basilicas, is built over the tomb of St. Paul and was first consecrated in 324 by Pope Sylvester. It has long been a significant site of pilgrimage, and during the jubilee, it will play a central role as one of the five Holy Door locations designated by the pope.

“By crossing the threshold of this basilica with faith, we enter the time of mercy and forgiveness so that according to the right expression of our holy patron St. Paul, the way of hope that does not disappoint may be opened to every woman and every man,” Harvey said.

Pope Francis chose “Pilgrims of Hope” as the theme of the 2025 Jubilee Year. In Spes Non Confundit (“Hope Does Not Disappoint”), the papal bull announcing the jubilee, Pope Francis described hope as a virtue that “does not deceive or disappoint because it is grounded in the certainty that nothing and no one may ever separate us from God’s love.”

In his homily, Harvey reflected on the virtue of hope, quoting Pope Benedict XVI’s encyclical Spe Salvi: “We have been given hope, trustworthy hope, by virtue of which we can face our present: the present, even if it is arduous, can be lived and accepted if it leads towards a goal, if we can be sure of this goal, and if this goal is great enough to justify the effort of the journey.”

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“‘The good news,’ the Christian message, is the announcement of this accomplished reality of Jesus Christ died, risen, and glorified. He is our hope,” Harvey added.

The jubilee, the first ordinary one since the Great Jubilee of 2000, is expected to draw millions of pilgrims to Rome. The other four Holy Doors of the 2025 Jubilee are located at St. Peter’s Basilica, the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran, the Basilica of St. Mary Major, and — for the first time in the history of jubilees — inside Rome’s Rebibbia Prison.

“The dark door of time, of the future, has been thrown open. The one who has hope lives differently; the one who hopes has been granted the gift of a new life,” Harvey said, quoting Spe Salvi.

Harvey explained that hope is “a theological virtue because it’s infused by God and has God as its guarantor. It’s not a passive virtue which merely waits for things to happen. It’s a supremely active virtue that helps make them happen.”

“The Church invites each pilgrim to undertake a spiritual journey in the footsteps of faith, and the Church strongly hopes that it may reignite the flame of hope,” he said.

The Holy Door at St. Paul’s will remain open until Dec. 28, 2025. “St. Paul left us these precious words when he wrote to the Romans, ‘May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit,’” Harvey said.

“The cross of Christ, the glorious symbol of victory over sin and death, is our unique hope,” he said.

“To radiate hope, to be sowers of hope … is certainly the most beautiful gift that the Church can give to all humanity, especially at this moment in its history,” the cardinal added.