Jubilee: Opening of the Holy Door in the memory of Vatican II
Vatican City (AsiaNews) - The celebration for the opening of the Holy Door of St. Peter's and the beginning of the Jubilee of Mercy will be held in St Peter's Square starting at 9.30 am on December 8. A "simple" ceremony rich in symbolism recalling the fiftieth anniversary of the conclusion of the Second Vatican Council. In fact excerpts of the four conciliar constitutions (Dei Verbum, Lumen gentium, Sacrosanctum concilium and Gaudium et spes), will be read and two excerpts from Unitatis redintegratio and Dignitatis Humanae on ecumenism and religious freedom. The Gospel prepared for this Holy Year will be placed on the same throne used during the Council at the altar of St Peter's Basilica to make clear the primacy of the Word of God for all.
The Holy Father will request the opening of the Door, and he will then pass through it. After him, the Cardinals, Bishops, and representatives of priests, religious men and women, and laity will cross its threshold, and will continue in procession to the tomb of the Apostle Peter, where the concluding rite of the Holy Mass will take place.
The opening ceremonies and the resources that will be made available to the pilgrims for the Jubilee Year were discussed today at a Vatican press conference, which was attended by Msgr. Rino Fisichella, president of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization, Msgr. José Octavio Ruiz Arenas and Mons. Graham Bell, respectively secretary and under-secretary of the same dicastery.
The opening of the Holy Door of St. Peter’s will be followed, on Sunday, Dec. 13, for the first time in the history of Jubilees, the opening of the Holy Doors in all the cathedrals of the world.
On that day Francis will also open the Holy Door of the cathedral of Rome, St John Lateran. Msgr. Fisichella said “It is worth noting the enthusiasm with which the churches throughout the world are preparing for this event. We have received hundreds of communications about this, but would like to make special mention of the Cathedrals of the Holy Spirit in Istanbul; of Saints Peter and Paul in Ratnapura, Sri Lanka; of Christ the King in Mushasha in Gitega, Burundi; of Saint Joseph in Dunedin, New Zealand; of Our Lady of the Presentation in Natal, Brasil; of Myeogdong in Seoul, South Korea; and of Saint George in the Maronite Archdiocese of Beirut".
St Peter’s lit up by photos inspired by mercy
Returning to 8 December, Msgr. Fisichella reported that the evening will end in St Peter's Square with a beautiful and unique representation entitled "Fiat lux: Illuminating Our Common Home". "It is – he said - a projection of photographs onto the façade and cupola of Saint Peter’s, taken from a repertoire of some of the world’s great photographers. These illuminations will present images inspired of Mercy, of humanity, of the natural world, and of climate changes. The show is sponsored by the World Bank Group (Connect4Climate), by Paul G. Allen's Vulcan Productions, by the Li Ka-shing Foundation and by Okeanos. This event, inspired by the most recent encyclical of Pope Francis, Laudato si’, is intended to present the beauty of creation, especially on the occasion of the Twenty-first United Nations Climate Change Conference (Cop 21), which began in Paris last Monday, November 30, and ends on December 11. The show will begin at 19:00. I can assure everyone that it is a unique event for its genre and for the fact that it is being displayed for the first time on such a significant backdrop. "
In Rome, then, from the day of the opening of the Holy Door, throughout the Jubilee, in St Peter's Square the Rosary will be prayed at the statue of St. Peter, led in turn by some parishes of Rome dedicated to the Virgin Mary and the religious institutes present in Rome with a special consecration to the Mother of God.
Moreover, once a month on a Saturday there will be a general audience in addition to the Wednesday appointment. On the website www.im.va site, said Monsignor Fisichella yet, there are already those specific dates and "for some Saturdays St. Peter's Square has already more than 70,000 people registered."
In Rome, Friday, December 18, Francis will perform a symbolic gesture as he opens the Door of Mercy at the Hostel “Don Luigi Di Liegro”, run by Caritas of Rome, in Via Marsala. “For 25 years, persons in grave need, who require our help, have been received at this hostel. With this first gesture the Holy Father will begin a series of symbolic actions that will take place on one Friday of the month, and which he intends as concrete expressions of the works of mercy. It is important to be mindful that these gestures will have the character of private visits from the Holy Father, in order to maintain, as much as possible, a personal rapport of closeness and solidarity with the persons or institutions visited. They will be a testimony through which Pope Francis intends to highlight the major forms of need, marginalization, and poverty that are present in society, although these forms of poverty are nevertheless united with a strong solidarity on the part of many people who dedicate their time and energy to consoling and giving daily support to those in need “.
Turning to organizational aspects, Msgr. Fisichella stated that from 1st of December, a Welcome Center of the Pilgrims has been up and running on Via della Conciliazione, 7. It provides information on all the Jubilee program, registry for the queue to cross the Holy Door, to pick up tickets for the various celebrations that require a ticket access, to withdraw testimonium of participation in the Jubilee . " It is important for me to stress that only the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization, through the Information Center, has been given the responsibility of certifying a pilgrim's presence at the Jubilee, as well as the journey made on foot. Any other attestation issued by other organizations should not be considered authentic. The center will be open daily from 7.30 to 18.30 including Saturdays and Sundays. "
"An important role will be played by the Volunteers who will be of service in welcoming and assisting all pilgrims, in particular at Via della Conciliazione and Saint Peter's Square, in the other Basilicas, and at the Jubilee Churches. In the past months, many have responded to our invitation, and although we are still waiting for further registrations, we now have approximately 100 volunteers every day in service for the Holy Year. This number, obviously, is intended to reach 800-1000 for the Major Events”.
The health care of pilgrims has also been taken care of. In each of the four Papal Basilicas there will be a First Aid Station (Pronto Soccorso). Through the generosity of the Onlus Foundation “Giorgio Castelli”, every center will be furnished with a defibrillator. Medical and nursing services are being provided by the Order of Malta, which has the competency and expertise for the management of the First Aid services. It is important to remember that the healthcare structures of the Region of Lazio will also be involved. The Region has organized a structural plan for the entire city, and guarantees, among other services, the permanent placement of a P.M.A. (Posto Medico Avanzato/Advance Medical Post) at Castel Sant’Angelo, along with the new Emergency Room at Santo Spirito Hospital, which will be inaugurated in the coming weeks. In this context, I am also pleased to remind you that we have planned multiple means of communication for the deaf and blind. In particular, for the former, there will be video-tutorials with Italian and International Sign Language (LIS); while for the latter, there will be audio files that can be downloaded from the Jubilee website that describe the paths, pilgrimages to the Holy Door, and much else. In addition, in Saint Peter’s Basilica and in other Churches, confessionals have been set up without structural barriers, and with other considerations that will facilitate confessions for the deaf. Furthermore, there is also a touch book planned in A3 format that will permit the blind to be guided through the Pilgrimage to the Holy Door of Saint Peter’s Basilica. Finally, the internet site has also been equipped with a facilitated navigation ".
The first jubilee of the Internet era
" The Holy Year of Mercy, will in fact be the first in the era of internet and of social media. In this regards, I would like to draw your attention to the importance of the official website of the Jubilee (http://www.im.va). This site, translated into seven languages, will permit those who cannot be physically present to follow the Major Jubilee events that will take place in Rome. To register for the passage through the Holy Door, and likewise to become a volunteer, it is necessary to enroll on the indicated sections of the site. In addition, I believe it opportune here to say a few words about the Portal “vatimecum”, endorsed by the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization, by means of which pilgrims may obtain services relating to room and board in Rome at controlled prices, along with a great deal of other information about living the Jubilee".
" The initiative of the “Missionaries of Mercy” merits a final consideration. We have closed registration for the Missionaries because the number of priests has already reached more than 800 requests. The Missionaries are priests who come from various parts of the world, and who were proposed by their own bishops to carry out this special service. Beginning on Ash Wednesday, they will receive the mandate from the Holy Father to be preachers of mercy and confessors full of mercy. They will receive from the Holy Father the faculty to forgive sins reserved to the Holy See, and will be the sign of the closeness and pardon of God for all. It is important for me to underscore that the Missionaries of Mercy are appointed exclusively by the Holy Father, and that the faculty of forgiving reserved sins will be given to each one of them personally. No bishop in his own diocese may appoint these Missionaries, nor may he confer faculties that he does not possess. Anyone wishing to invite the Missionaries for a liturgy, a retreat, or a special event can do so by accessing the list that will be made available to bishops".
" The Jubilee is already at hand. We are certain that it will be lived intensely by pilgrims who, whether it be in their own Particular Churches or in Rome, will cross through the Holy Door. For this occasion the Holy Father has granted all the Bishops of the world the power to give the Papal Blessing at the Holy Mass for the opening of the Holy Door, and for the closure of the door at the end of the Holy Year. This Jubilee will be an experience of mercy for each person to feel more intimately the love of God, who like a Father welcomes everyone and excludes no one. It will be a significant time for all the Church to remember that mercy is the essence of her proclamation to the world, and to render every believer a tangible instrument of the tenderness of God. As Pope Francis wrote: “In our parishes, communities, associations and movements, in a word, wherever there are Christians, everyone should find an oasis of mercy "(n. 12).
Finally responding to a question on the issue of safety in Rome during the Jubilee events, Msgr. Fisichella urged journalists "not to over-dramatize the issue of Security measures in Rome". "We have every reason to think that there is every guarantee to ensure the safety of pilgrims who come to Rome but will still need vigilance".
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10/08/2016 11:50
