What’s the point of Holy Doors? A Jubilee reflection from Rome

Julian Paparella

Friday, November 7, 2025

Photo of the top of an ornate bronze-coloured door with a coat of arms and a crowd of people sculpted into it, and a sign saying 'PORTA SANTA' above it.

Holy Door of Rome's Santa Maria Maggiore, with the Coat of Arms of St. John Paul II sculpted at the top. Wikimedia Commons.

On a Friday evening a few weeks ago, I realized that in the span of the past week I had gone through all four Holy Doors at the Papal Basilicas here in Rome. I suppose you could say it’s one of the privileges of living in the Eternal City during a Jubilee Year. I had gone through the Holy Doors of St. John Lateran and St. Mary Major with my brother-in-law who was visiting for the weekend, then St. Peter’s on a jubilee pilgrimage with my university, and St. Paul’s for an ecumenical prayer service with King Charles.

It wasn’t my first time going through any of those doors, but going through all four in one week made me pause and reflect on the significance of going through Holy Doors in a Jubilee Year.

So what are Holy Doors all about, anyways?

In the Catholic Church, there are only a handful of Holy Doors around the world. There is one at each of the four Major Basilicas in Rome. They have also been installed at certain other sites of high spiritual significance. The only Holy Door in Canada, and in the Americas as a whole, is at the Basilica of Notre-Dame-de-Québec in Quebec City. It was inaugurated in 2013 to commemorate the 350th anniversary of the first parish in North America. Holy Doors are opened only for Jubilee Years – generally every 25 years – attracting thousands of pilgrims who cross over their thresholds. They are sealed shut from one Jubilee to the next. Pope Francis opened the Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome on Christmas Eve, December 24, 2024. The Holy Door will be closed by Pope Leo XIV when the Jubilee concludes on the Feast of the Epiphany, January 6, 2026.

Each Holy Door is a work of art, specially decorated with signs of our faith. Yet in reality, the meaning of Holy Doors is not so much about the door itself. Holy Doors are not magical; they don’t have any special powers. Rather, the point is for pilgrims to pass through the door, crossing its threshold. In other words, a Holy Door is about the pilgrimage itself, to and through the door, as a sign of our journey of life, walking forward with faith, hope, and trust in God.

Ultimately, the Holy Door is a sign of Christ, who called himself the Gate for his sheep (John 10:7-10). Christ is the way that we are called to follow, as Christians and as human beings. In him is the fullness of life, and through him we pass into everlasting life. He is our door to the Father’s house. He is our pathway to heaven. He is the bridge leading humanity to salvation. He is the Shepherd who guides us gently towards green pastures and carries us on his shoulders when our legs grow weary.

Jesus is the way to the Father’s heart. It is through him that the love of the Father’s heart reaches us. So too, it is through Jesus that we make our journey home to the Father.

In this sense, whether you find yourself in Rome during this Jubilee Year or not, each day is an opportunity to walk through the threshold of the Holy Door that is Christ. Especially in times of darkness, difficulty, and despair – in our own lives and in the life of the world – we can move forward with hope and trust by putting our faith in Christ and journeying with him towards the future that he opens before us.

Christ can make a way where there is no way. The door of his heart never closes. He knocks on the doors of our hearts and asks to come in, to stay with us and be our light. As we welcome him, he welcomes us. He crosses over our threshold into our daily lives and we cross over his threshold to receive more and more each day the fullness of his life.

“Because even if the Holy Door closes, the true door of mercy which is the heart of Christ always remains open wide for us. From the lacerated side of the Risen One until the very end of time flow mercy, consolation and hope” (Pope Francis, Homily at the Closing Mass for the Jubilee of Mercy, 20 November 2016).

Jesus, You are the way, the truth, and the life. You are our Door to the future. Let us walk forward in You. Guide our steps on the way of the peace and salvation that You offer to all. Amen.