At 20:20, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State of the Holy See, opened the Holy Door of the Basilica of Collemaggio to mark the 731st Celestinian Forgiveness. This act inaugurates the core event in L’Aquila related to the plenary indulgence established by Pope Celestino V in 1294, the first in the history of the Catholic Church.
“Today, in this wounded and faithful land,” Parolin said during the homily preceding the opening rite, “the Holy Door of Celestino opens, which for centuries has spoken of forgiveness and peace, and which each year renews the proclamation of the Perdonanza.”
“This opening is part of the Jubilee journey but has a very particular tone: here the sign becomes a living memory, a cry and a prayer, a promise of freedom and mercy.”
“In another passage, he added, “The Holy Father Francis also cordially unites himself with our joy and our thanksgiving for this time of grace that is given to us, the Jubilee of Hope, and he invokes the Lord’s blessing upon each of you.”
“However, be careful,” Parolin stated in his concluding remarks, “passing through this holy door must not be thought of or used as a superstitious element or a magical gesture that automatically changes our lives. It is not enough to pass through the door—or any other holy door—to obtain something special.”
The liturgical celebration in the Basilica was preceded by the reading of the Bull of Pardon by L’Aquila Mayor Pierluigi Biondi on the stage in front of Collemaggio. The Archbishop of the city, Antonio D’Angelo, read an excerpt concerning the Perdonanza from Pope Francis’s Bull of Indiction for the 2025 Jubilee, ‘Spes non confundit’. The Holy Door will be closed after sunset tomorrow. Thousands of visitors and pilgrims are expected to pass through it in the coming hours.
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