On Christmas Eve this year, 24^th December, Pope Francis will inaugurate the Holy Year or Jubilee Year by opening the Holy Door in St Peter’s Basilica. This is a very ancient tradition which dates back to 1300 when Pope Boniface VIII proclaimed a Holy Year to mark the beginning of the century, when slaves and prisoners were freed, debts forgiven and the great mercies of God made particularly manifest. A Holy Year is also a special year of the remission of sins. At the conclusion of this Holy Year, which will be on 6^th January 2026, the Solemnity of the Epiphany, the Holy Door will be bricked up and sealed until the next one is called. Originally Holy Years were proclaimed every hundred years, but for the last five hundred years they have been every twenty five years, with the idea that hopefully every person will be able to experience a Holy Year at least once in their lifetime. Occasionally a Pope may call an extraordinary Holy Year for a special reason, such as the Holy Year of Mercy proclaimed by Pope Francis in 2016.

The Holy Year should be a year of grace. Traditionally, the faithful make a pilgrimage to Rome and pass through the Holy Door in one of the four Papal Basilicas. The Holy Door symbolises the gateway to God’s mercy and Christ Himself – the one and only way to eternal life. He said, “I am the gate. Whoever enters through Me will be saved” (John 10:9). The four Papal Basilicas are St Peter’s, St John Lateran, St Mary Majors and St Paul’s outside the Walls. Then having passed through the Holy Door, and by making a good Confession, receiving Holy Communion and praying for the Pope’s intentions, you may gain a Plenary Indulgence. This means not only the complete forgiveness of all the sins we have committed, but also the removal of all punishment due to them. So the idea of the Holy Year is that we can start all over again with a clean slate. Pope Francis, in the Papal Bull “Spes non confundit” or “Hope does not disappoint” proclaiming the Holy Year, described the Indulgence as “a way to discover the unlimited nature of God’s mercy which knows no bounds.” The Pope also said that our hope as Christians is grounded in the certainty that nothing can separate us from God’s love, and that we should carry this hope into the world. In addition the Pope said he would personally like to open a Holy Door in a prison as a sign inviting prisoners to look to the future with hope, and also recalled the tradition of pardoning prisoners during Jubilee Years.

Obviously, not everyone will be able to make a pilgrimage to Rome to gain the Indulgence. Therefore, nine Jubilee Churches will be designated in the Nottingham Diocese. The list will be published soon and the Holy Year Indulgence may be gained by visiting one of them. More on this as information becomes available.

Fr Paul Gillham, IC