Pope closes Holy Door at Saint Peter’s as jubilee ends
VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis yesterday brought to a close the Catholic Church’s ‘Year of Mercy’, shutting the Holy Door at Saint Peter’s after a packed 12 months that saw him raise Mother Teresa to sainthood and welcome Syrian Muslim refugees to the Vatican.
The Argentine, who says he is inspired by Saint Francis of Assisi, spent the year with the downtrodden, holding special masses and passing one Friday every month with refugees, victims of sex trafficking, the sick, the elderly, and vulnerable children.
At a solemn ceremony in front of the panelled bronze doors at the Vatican’s basilica — wreathed in white flowers and green foliage and flanked by Swiss guards — the pope paused to pray, clutching the cross he wears around his neck.
He walked slowly up the three steps into the basilica alone and in silence pulled closed the doors, which will later be walled up from the inside as per tradition until the next ‘ordinary jubilee’ in 2025.
The ‘extraordinary Jubilee’ was only the third since the tradition began 700 years ago.
It kicked off amid concerns over possible jihadist attacks. Police with submachine guns stood guard next to Swiss guards around the tiny state.
Not one but two men in white attended the opening ceremony: Francis welcoming his predecessor Benedict XVI in a move that marked the first time a current and former pope launched a jubilee year together.
The watchword of mercy meant helping the unfortunate and welcoming sinners and outcasts back into the fold.
Underpinning the initiative was compassion, which the pope hoped would not only counter xenophobia but also draw people to the church.
Francis, 79, ruled that during the jubilee every priest in the world would be able to absolve the sin of abortion, and handpicked more than a thousand ‘ missionaries of mercy’ dubbed ‘super confessors’.
These were able to forgive sins usually only pardonable by the pontiff, from attempting to kill the holy father to defiling the Eucharist — the rite of consuming consecrated bread and wine in Church — by spitting it out or using it in a Satanic ritual. — AFP