By CatholicVote | Created at 2024-11-25 22:21:11 | Updated at 2024-11-26 01:58:03
3 hours ago
CV NEWS FEED // Pope Francis will open the first of five Holy Doors during the Christmas Eve liturgy at St. Peter’s Basilica to officially inaugurate the 2025 Jubilee of Hope.
Vatican News reported that the second Holy Door will be opened on December 26, the feast of St. Stephen. The December 26 opening will take place at Rome’s Rebibbia prison, making it “the only Holy Door not in a papal basilica.”
According to the Jubilee’s official website, this is the first time a Holy Door would be opened in a prison. Pope Francis has several times emphasized his desire that the Jubilee of Hope will touch prisoners in a special way.
In his Bull of Indiction, Pope Francis wrote that “During the Holy Year, we are called to be tangible signs of hope for those of our brothers and sisters who experience hardships of any kind.”
“I think of prisoners who, deprived of their freedom, daily feel the harshness of detention and its restrictions, lack of affection and, in more than a few cases, lack of respect for their persons,” he added, noting that his opening of a Holy Door in the prison is a “sign inviting prisoners to look to the future with hope and a renewed sense of confidence.”
The pope also urged governments to “undertake initiatives aimed at restoring hope” for prisoners, and notably called for the abolition of the death penalty.
>>Catholic group calls for Biden to commute 40 death row sentences ahead of Jubilee of Hope<<
Catholic News Agency reported that an “amnesty” agreement was signed in September between the Pope and Italian officials. Archbishop Rino Fisichella, pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization, reportedly said in a press briefing that the agreement will “implement during the jubilee year forms of reintegration for several convicts through their employment in social commitment activities.”
According to the USCCB, the Holy Doors at the Basilica of St. John Lateran will be opened on December 29, while the doors at St. Mary Major and St. Paul Outside the Walls will be respectively opened by the Pope on January 1 and January 5.
