Rites of passage: Rome's Holy Doors and Jubilee years

On Sunday, 5 January, at the start of 2025, Pope Francis opened the final Holy Door in Rome for the Jubilee year in the grand basilica of Saint Paul’s Outside the Walls.

For centuries, these special doors that exist in the four major Papal basilicas have marked the beginning of a sacred journey – a rite of passage for spiritual renewal.

Traditionally, Rome's Holy Doors are found in St. Peter's, St. Mary Major, St. John Lateran, and Saint Paul's Outside the Walls. Outside Jubilee Years, they are sealed with bricks, ceremoniously torn down during their openings.