Vatican Says Five Holy Doors will be Opened during 2025 Jubilee, Including at a Prison 

The Archbasilica of St. John Lateran will be the second door opened by Pope Francis — on Dec. 29, the feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. The Holy Father will then open the Holy Door at the Basilica of St. Mary Major on the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, on Jan. 1, and then on Jan. 5 he will open the Holy Door at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls. These three papal basilicas will all be closed on Dec. 28, 2025.

The Dicastery for Evangelization has not yet specified the location or dates for the opening or closing of the Holy Door at a Rome prison. 

In his papal bull, the Holy Father expressed his wish that prisoners “look to the future with hope and a renewed sense of confidence” during the Jubilee Year.

The note released by the dicastery’s Section for Fundamental Questions regarding Evangelization in the World did not mention the opening of any other Holy Doors within Italy or abroad but issued further guidelines for the granting and use of the Jubilee 2025 indulgence when visiting cathedrals, international and national shrines, and other significant places of worship outside of Rome. 

The Decree of the Apostolic Penitentiary released on May 13, mentioned in the Aug. 1 note, states that the Catholic faithful who wish to live “this moment of grace in its fullness” can obtain the 2025 Jubilee indulgence in three main ways: pilgrimages, pious visits to sacred places, and works of mercy and penance.

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The upcoming holy year will be the 28th jubilee celebrated in the Catholic Church and comes 10 years after Pope Francis opened the extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy in 2015. That year, Holy Doors had been erected in basilicas and sacred sites in 40 different countries.