10 December 2015
A few days ago it opened the Holy Door to inaugurate the special Jubilee dedicated to mercy. An event this very special opening, the origin of the Catholic Church every Holy Year, a period in which every believer can seek absolution of all sins.
The three Holy Doors of Rome
The Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica is certainly the most important, but not the only one present in the city. The Holy Doors are all those doors of the papal basilicas, walled and open only for the jubilee, you can find the holy gates even in the basilicas of St. John Lateran, St. paul outside the walls and in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore.
The Meaning of the Holy Door of the Vatican
The Holy Door is the symbol of the action that every Christian must do to obtain the grace of his sins, this meaning is related to the word of Jesus in the Gospel of John he says "I am the word."
The door in the history
Until 1975 the door was walled up after the Holy Year and before opening the Pope gave three hammered with a silver hammer. In 1974 for the closing of the Holy Door Pope Paul VI he was accidentally shot by some rubble and after that the ceremonies of the opening and closing of the Holy Door were simplified.
Who built the holy door?
The current Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome was carved in 1948 by Vico Consorti, who won the competition launched by the Catholic Church for the Jubilee of 1950. The door opened during the Christmas Eve of 1949 says in its various scenes throughout the history of humanity in its main moments. The scenes carved in wood were replaced with bronze. Among the 16 boxes it is also the scene where Boniface VIII index the first Jubilee in 1300.