Opening of the Holy Door of St Peter's Basilica

The Holy Door of St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican will be opened on 24 December 2024 and will officially inaugurate the Ordinary Jubilee.

• On Sunday 29 December 2024, Pope Francis will open the Holy Door of St John Lateran, which will celebrate the 1700th anniversary of its dedication on 9 November this year.
• On Wednesday, 1 January 2025, Solemnity of Mary Most Holy Mother of God, the Holy Door of the Papal Basilica of St. Mary Major will open.
• On Sunday, 5 January, the Holy Door of the Papal Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls will open.

The last three Holy Doors will be closed by Sunday 28 December 2025.

The symbol of a new beginning

The first record of the rite of opening the Door, which is traditionally the first to be opened, dates back to 1500 and to Pope Alexander VI.

In the days preceding the opening, the wall sealing the Door is dismantled and at the same time the box walled up during the last Holy Year is taken out of it. This contains the key that the Pope will use to open the Door, symbolically pushing its doors open.

The Door remains open throughout the Year to be passed through by millions of pilgrims arriving from all over the world to fully experience theindulgence associated with the Holy Year. Passing through the door represents one's journey of conversion towards an encounter with Christ and the ‘Door’ unites one with the Father.

A journey through time and faith

In 1949, the contest organised by the Holy See for the creation of the Jubilee Door was won by the sculptor Vico Consorti, who completed it in 11 months, just in time for the inauguration on Christmas Eve 1949.

The Door was donated to Pope Pius XII by Francis Von Streng, Bishop of Lugano and Basel, and his community, as thanks to the Lord for sparing Switzerland from war.

For the panels that would form the Door, Consorti was inspired by the Pope's words: ‘Grant, O Lord, that this Holy Year may be the year of great return and great forgiveness’. In fact, the sculptural cycle narrates the history of mankind in sixteen panels from The Sin and the Expulsion from the Earthly Paradise to the apparitions of the risen Christ to Thomas and all the gathered Apostles, up to the image of Christ as the Door of Salvation in the last panel.

More information on: Jubilee 2025