Vicariate of Rome
Social Communications Office

PRESS RELEASE

CLOSING OF THE HOLY DOOR OF THE BASILICA OF SAINT JOHN LATERAN

The rite and Eucharistic celebration will take place on Saturday 27 September at 11.00.
Created on the occasion of the Jubilee 2000, the Door depicts the Madonna and Child, the Crucified Christ and the coat of arms of Saint John Paul II

The rite of the closing of the Holy Door of the Basilica of Saint John Lateran will take place on Saturday 27 December at 11.00, and will be presided over by Cardinal Baldo Reina, Vicar General of His Holiness for the diocese of Rome; this will be followed by the Eucharistic celebration, which will be enlivened by the Choir of the diocese of Rome conducted by Monsignor MARCO FRISINA. The faithful will be able to access the Basilica by presenting the free ticket, from 8.00 to 10.00, after passing the usual security checks. The ceremony will be broadcast live on the YouTube channel of the diocese of Rome.

The Holy Door of the Basilica of Saint John Lateran is the last on the right in the portico, and it was the first to be opened in the history of Jubilees, during the Holy Year of 1423. It was POPE MARTIN V, entombed in front of the main altar, who recognized in the passage through the door what has since become the ultimate symbol of the Jubilee pilgrimage: passing through the true door, which is Christ, to receive the gift of his grace. It was not until Christmas 1499 that POPE ALEXANDER VI instituted the opening of the Holy Door also in Saint Peter's Basilica.

The current Holy Door was created by the sculptor FLORIANO BODINI on the occasion of the Jubilee 2000. It took two and a half years of work, from the first drawings in 1998 and the sketch, up to the plaster cast and bronze fusion. The door is a great icon depicting the Madonna and child, the Crucified Christ and the coat of arms of Saint JOHN PAUL II. The mother protects the Child, who reaches out with vigour and strength towards the Cross to affirm his eternal Divinity through sacrifice.

During this Jubilee 2025, the Holy Door of Saint John Lateran has been crossed by the faithful from many Roman parishes: parish communities, either alone or organized into prefectures, have mostly chosen to organize their Jubilee at the cathedral of Rome.

Accreditation procedure – Journalists and media operators who wish to participate must apply no less than 24 hours before the event, via the Holy See Press Office online accreditation system, at: press.vatican.va/accreditamenti.

19 December 2025

Giulia Rocchi, Press and Social Communications Office of the Vicariate of Rome
tel. +390669886343/150; +393393749085
e-mail stampa@diocesidiroma.it; giulia.rocchi@diocesidiroma.it