Pope Paul Opens a Holy Year

The Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica, reserved for the rare event, had been walled up for a quarter of a century. Just before midnight on Christmas Eve, Pope Paul VI stood before it and tapped it three times with a silver hammer. With that, workmen lowered the massive door on pulleys, chunks of broken masonry fell, and prelates washed the threshold and doorposts. After a prayer, Paul walked through the doorway into St. Peter's as cardinals, bishops, nuns, priests and lay people streamed in behind him. The Holy Year of 1975, with its theme of "renewal and reconciliation," had begun.

The custom of jubilee years dates back to ancient Judaism; the Book of Leviticus decreed that "You shall hallow the fiftieth year" by pardoning debts and freeing slaves. With a more spiritual idea of liberation in mind, the Roman Catholic Church began its tradition of Holy Years in 1300; eventually they came to be celebrated fairly regularly every 25 years. As in past Holy Years, pilgrims to Rome who visit St. Peter's and three other basilicas--St. John Lateran, St. Mary Major and St. Paul Outside the Walls--will receive a papal plenary indulgence: full remission of any temporal punishment (i.e., time in purgatory) they may have earned for their sins. The influx of tourists--at least 4 million are predicted--could be a mixed blessing for Italy. It is bound to help the country's disastrous balance of payments deficit, but it could also severely strain Rome's already overtaxed urban facilities.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.