Francis will also open the Holy Door at the Basilica of St. John Lateran, his cathedral church, on December 13, when US Cardinal James Harvey will also open the holy door at Rome’s Basilica of St. Paul’s Outside the Walls.
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Crowds were lower than expected, with 50,000 pilgrims and tourists passing through police metal detectors as they congregated in St. Peter’s Square for the opening.
He thanked “those who have been working over recent months and yesterday showed great professionalism – volunteers, fire fighters, emergency services”, and added that he saw a “deployment of strength and motivated people”. Especially in our times, in which forgiveness is a rare guest in the areas of human life, the call to merciful, he continued, becomes more urgent, and this everywhere: “in society, institutions, at work and even in the family”.
In another first, Francis will directly appoint special missionaries from all over the world who will receive from the pope the power to forgive sins usually reserved to the Holy See.
“A year- long focus by the church on the mercy of god and the various manifestations and practices”, Father Luke Meyer said.
Under the year’s theme of mercy, the Pope has said priests can absolve women who have had abortions.
Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle opened the Holy Door at the Manila Cathedral on Wednesday, Dec. 9, marking the beginning of the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy. A no-fly zone had been imposed on Rome’s skies, to protect pilgrims flocking to witness the celebration.
“To celebrate a Jubilee of Mercy, he said, “is equivalent to putting our Christian faith’s distinctive features back at the centre of our personal lives and of our communities”.
Francis’ aging predecessor, Benedict XVI, followed the Pope through the giant doors into the Basilica.
“Dear brothers and sisters” Pope Francis continued, “the Jubilee will be a “favourable time” for the Church if we learn to choose “what God likes most” without bowing to the temptation of thinking that there is something else that is more important”.
The next day, Cardinal Wuerl also opened a Holy Door at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception during a Mass marking the basilica’s patronal feast day, a holy day of obligation for Catholics that commemorates Mary as being conceived without sin.
The ability to come and receive Reconciliation and receive a Plenary Indulgence is a unique opportunity that all Catholics are encouraged to participate during the upcoming Year of Mercy.
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“Salvation is offered to every human, to every people, without exception, to each of us”, Pope Francis said during the ceremony, according to Vatican Radio.
