Dear Father,
I read that there is another holy year coming up. I remember that there used to be special doors about 10 years ago. When do the special doors open in Columbus? And, where are they at?
-Kobe
Dear Kobe,
The special doors open at Christmas … if you’re in Rome. Otherwise, there aren’t any. Let me explain.
The special doors of which you write are the Holy Doors. Going back quite a few centuries, distinct doors at the four great basilicas in Rome were opened at certain times, typically every 100 years. In recent times, popes have ordered the opening of the Holy Doors more frequently.
Pope St. John Paul II had the Holy Doors of the major Roman basilicas opened for the great millennial year and Jubilee in 2000. He also designated other special sites worldwide to have Holy Doors, such as the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C.
In 2016, Pope Francis inaugurated an exceptional Holy Year, which he named the Year of Mercy. One of the unique qualities of 2016 was that many churches throughout the world were designated as having Holy Doors. In our Diocese of Columbus, besides St. Joseph Cathedral, the bishop chose several other churches to feature Holy Doors. Other dioceses did the same.
During this Jubilee Holy Year, however, Pope Francis is returning to the tradition of having Holy Doors opened only at the four major basilicas of Rome (St. Peter’s Basilica, St. John Lateran, St. Mary Major, St. Paul Outside the Walls). But there’s a twist. He is also setting up a kind of Holy Door in a prison. This is because the Pope has a particular concern for the incarcerated. Surely the Pope is thinking that a prison Holy Door accentuates the meaning of these portals of forgiveness during this Holy Year.
Since ancient times, the doors of sacred places had a different meaning for fugitives from the law. Criminals, passing through the doors of the sacred place, would seek sanctuary, especially Catholic churches. Those who sought sanctuary could not be arrested in a sacred place. This custom no longer exists in our day.
All of us who have sinned have something in common with criminals. All of us need to seek sanctuary, hiding in Him, not from Him. We must all pass through the doors of the church and find protection in the confessional. Rather than hide from the law, we expose our guilt to God. Then, through the absolution of the priest, we are more than immune from arrest; we are no longer liable to prison fires.
After we are absolved of our sins, we still find ourselves with disordered attachments, which are part of the lasting effects of our wrongdoing. We call these the temporal (not eternal) punishments due to our sins. They, too, need to be forgiven and healed. If I eat too many doughnuts, my punishment is diet and exercise to help me overcome my over-attachment to sweet things. I need spiritual diet and exercise, too. Walking through the Holy Doors is one way to do spiritual exercise.
The tradition of crossing the threshold of these special doors began around the 15th century at St. John Lateran in Rome. The doors would be opened for a length of time and then sealed. Every 100 years, the Holy Door was reopened so that people could obtain special graces for the remission of temporal punishment due to sin.
Walking through the Holy Doors is not the only opportunity to find healing for the temporal punishments due to sin. God inspires our bishops to offer numerous occasions for relief from temporal punishments, particularly when walking through the Holy Doors is not available.
In every cathedral of every diocese of the world, though there is no Holy Door, we can make a prayerful visit to ask pardon for the evil effects our sins have caused. We can also pray for the souls in purgatory, who can no longer help themselves, so that they, too, can be free of their disordered attachments.
We call these prayerful visits pilgrimages to the cathedral. Rather than walking through the actual Holy Doors in Rome, we enter our cathedrals. We might think of our pilgrimage to the Cathedral as a virtual passing through the Holy Doors.
Some bishops have designated other churches as pilgrimage sites. Anyone passing through Columbus should visit the Cathedral but can also visit the Basilica of St. Mary of the Assumption in Lancaster.
In order to gain the indulgence (relief of temporal punishment), “the faithful, who are truly repentant and free from any affection for sin, who are moved by a spirit of charity and who, during the Holy Year, purified through the sacrament of penance and refreshed by Holy Communion, pray for the intentions of the Supreme Pontiff, will be able to obtain from the treasury of the Church a plenary indulgence, with remission and forgiveness of all their sins, which can be applied in suffrage to the souls in Purgatory” (2024 Vatican Decree).
