Yesterday evening, 2 December, the rite of the recognitio took place in Saint Peter’s Basilica. It is a ceremony in which it is verified, it is ascertained, as the Latin term means, that the Holy Door closed at the end of the last Jubilee is intact and sealed, ready to be reopened for the new Holy Year.

The recognitio was introduced by a prayer from Cardinal Archpriest Mauro Gambetti. The “Sampietrini” broke down the wall sealing the Holy Door inside the Basilica, extracting the metal case conserved there from the day of the closure of the last Jubilee, the Jubilee of Mercy, on 20 November 2016. The case contains the key permitting the opening of the Holy Door this coming 24 December, as well as the handles, the parchment of the deed attesting to its closure, four gilded bricks and some medals, including those of the Pontificates of Francis, Benedict XVI and John Paul II.

Cardinal Gambetti then led the procession, accompanied by the singing of the litanies of the Saints, from the Holy Door to the Altar of the Confessio, where he paused for a moment of prayer. The participants in the rite then approached the Chapter Hall, where the metal case extracted from the Holy Door was opened. Archbishop Rino Fisichella, pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization, and Archbishop Diego Ravelli, master of pontifical liturgical celebrations, were present, and received the documents and objects of the recognitio, which will be taken to Pope Francis.

This afternoon, the same ceremony will be held for the Holy Door of the Basilica of Saint John Lateran. The rite of the recognitio will be held on 5 December at the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside-the-Walls and on 6 December at the Basilica of Saint Mary Major.