The Jubilee year commences with the opening of the Holy Door of St. Peter's on Christmas Eve 2024. The opening of the Holy Door at St. Peter's on Christmas Eve signals the beginning of the Jubilee, which will continue throughout 2025. The year concludes on January 6, 2026 the Feast of the Lord’s Epiphany.
The opening of the Holy Door was a rite first introduced by Pope Alexander VI in 1500. The Holy Doors are only open during the Jubilee year and are bricked up between Jubilees. Holy Doors are a central symbol in Catholic Jubilees, representing the passage from sin to grace and a deeper encounter with Christ. For many Catholics, those doors are seen as a passage to salvation, and according to the Vatican's own website, “passing through the Holy Door signifies a deeper connection with Christ and a renewal of faith.” Unlike previous Jubilees where many churches had Holy Doors, Pope Francis has decided to return to the tradition of having Holy Doors only at the Vatican and other designated churches in Rome. However, bishops worldwide are encouraged to designate their cathedrals or other significant churches as special pilgrimage sites. Five Holy Doors will be open for the Jubilee of 2025. They are located at St Peter's Basilica, St. John Lateran, Saint Mary Major, St. Paul outside the wall, and a prison in Rome. The Holy Door at Saint Peter’s Basilica is the first of the five Doors to be opened and the last to close.
"From here the waters of divine grace flow abundantly, may they purify the soul of anyone who enters, restoring their spirit with divine peace and adorning them with Christian virtue. Holy Year, 1950."