On the 24th at 7:00 p.m. Rome time, Pope Francis began the start of a new Jubilee Yearwith the rite of the opening of the holy door in the atrium of St. Peter's.
It was a ceremony of great liturgical beauty and charged with symbolism, which preceded the celebration of the Holy Mass of the Nativity of the Lord in the Vatican Basilica.
The call Jubilee of Hope which the Church has just released will run until January 6, 2026.
Remembrance of the Jubilee Year 2000
In the atrium of the imposing temple, in front of a door surrounded by flowers, the Pope performed a rite that has been celebrated for 600 years, since Martin V first opened the gate of the Basilica of St. John Lateran.
The memory inevitably flew back to what happened a quarter of a century ago, when John Paul II He crossed the door of St. Peter's wrapped in a brightly colored rain cape, commemorating the two thousand years of redemption.
The same tired and prayerful gesture of the Polish Pope on that night was also seen in Francis, who wore a simple white robe and was seated in a wheelchair, due to his delicate health condition.
At 88 years of age and more than a decade of Petrine ministry, seeing him cross the holy door had a special expressive force, because we witnessed an image that summarized the magisterium with which he has been guiding the Church for eleven years.
Already in the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, which is the programmatic letter of his pontificate, published in November 2013, spoke of his desire for "a Church with open doors."
Another phrase, "in the Church there is room for everyone," has been the leitmotiv of his preaching in recent months, since he repeated it with insistence in the World Youth Day in Lisbon in August 2023.
The first to cross the holy gate
This openness and universality were present throughout the ceremony. After the Pope, 54 faithful from five continents - some from places like Egypt, Eritrea, Vietnam, Samoa or Papua New Guinea - entered through the holy door.
At the Mass, the prayer of the faithful began with a petition in Chinese and included, not coincidentally, another in Arabic praying for peace.
The offerings were carried by people dressed in their regional costumes: Asian, Arab and African costumes, the feathers and blanket of an American Indian, and the typical attire of the Argentine gauchos.
At another time, children from various countries brought a floral offering to the Child God.
A pontificate of hope
The Christmas Eve celebration was the culmination of a pontificate that has underscored the centrality of mercy in the life of the Church.
We saw a Pope recollected in prayer, worn out, supported to go through a door that symbolizes reconciliation with God and above all symbolizes Jesus Christ, who proclaimed himself "the door of the sheep".
Francis himself personifies the hope that the Church preaches to her children in this Holy Year. This theological virtue was the theme of his homily of the MassBrothers and sisters, this is the Jubilee, this is the time of hope. It invites us to rediscover the joy of the encounter with the Lord, it calls us to spiritual renewal and commits us to the transformation of the world, so that this may truly become a Jubilee time". In a world torn by war and pain, the Pope came from the new world leaves us a legacy of hope.
