The Church in Rome has begun the final phase of the Jubilee with the successive closing of the Holy Doors of the papal basilicas, a liturgical gesture that marks the passage from the extraordinary time of grace to a return to ordinary life, without—according to church authorities—the spiritual horizon opened by the Holy Year being closed.
On Saturday, December 27, the closing of the Holy Door of the Basilica of St. John Lateran, the cathedral of the Bishop of Rome, took place. The rite was presided over by Cardinal Baldassare Reina, vicar general of the diocese, who performed the gesture in silence and prayer, kneeling beforehand before the threshold before solemnly closing the door.
The ceremony took place in an atmosphere of recollection, with the participation of numerous faithful who, once the rite was concluded, approached the threshold to touch it and pray, thus prolonging the spiritual meaning of the gesture.
St. John the Evangelist as a Spiritual Key
The closing coincided with the feast of St. John, apostle and evangelist. In the subsequent Eucharistic celebration, Cardinal Reina evoked the figure of the beloved disciple as a model of intimacy with Christ, emphasizing his personal closeness to the Lord and his ability to listen even to the “silent voice” of his heart.
From that perspective, he invited the faithful to prolong the Jubilee experience in everyday life, assuming an active role as witnesses to divine mercy in a city marked by multiple forms of suffering, inequality, and loneliness.
A Social Reading of the Jubilee
In his address, the cardinal referred to various “absences” that traverse social and ecclesial life: the fracture between center and periphery, economic and existential poverty, the fragility of family bonds, isolation even within the presbyterate, job precariousness, and the lack of justice understood as real equality of opportunities.
To this he added a broader reflection on the contemporary cultural crisis, characterized—according to him—by the loss of deep thought, the weakening of the search for truth, and the absence of credible references, along with the persistence of international conflicts in which the logic of force prevails over peace.
The Closed Door and the Open Message
Cardinal Reina insisted that the physical closing of the Holy Door does not imply the end of the mercy announced during the Jubilee. On the contrary, he recalled that the central message of the Holy Year remains valid: God’s closeness and the responsibility of Christians to recognize everyone as brothers, including those considered adversaries.
In this sense, he affirmed that the true judgment at the end of time will be none other than that of love lived and offered.
Rome and Synodality
In reference to the immediate future of the diocese, the vicar general of Rome evoked words from Pope Leo XIV, who has called for the Roman Church and the city itself to become a “laboratory of synodality,” capable of translating the Gospel into concrete forms of closeness, co-responsibility, and communion, leaving no one on the margins.
Thanks and Historical Context
Before the final blessing, the cardinal thanked the work carried out during the Jubilee by ecclesiastical, civil, and military authorities, as well as the efforts of the faithful who exercised welcome and hospitality toward the pilgrims. He also greeted Archbishop Rino Fisichella, prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization and responsible for the Jubilee organization.
The Holy Door of St. John Lateran holds a singular place in the history of Holy Years: it was the first to be opened in 1423, and since then the passage through the Door has become a central sign of the Jubilee pilgrimage, understood as a symbolic transit toward Christ, the true threshold of salvation.
The current door, made for the Jubilee of the year 2000 by sculptor Floriano Bodini, features reliefs of the Virgin with Child, the crucified Christ, and the coat of arms of St. John Paul II.
The Closing Calendar
St. John Lateran has been the second papal basilica to close its Holy Door. On December 25, that of St. Mary Major was closed; on December 28, the closing is scheduled at St. Paul Outside the Walls; and on January 6, the solemnity of the Epiphany, Pope Leo XIV will close the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica, an act with which the 2025 Jubilee will officially conclude.