For the first time in church history, Pope Francis has designated Holy Doors for the Jubilee of Mercy beyond St. Peter’s Basilica.
Every cathedral in the world have a Holy Door for pilgrims, and every diocesan bishop can designate additional churches as Holy Door sites.
• Eight Holy Doors in the diocese
Bishop Malooly will open a Holy Door at Ss. Peter & Paul Church in Easton, Md., on Sunday, Dec. 13 at the 10:30 a.m. Mass.
The bishop announced the seven additional churches as sites for Holy Doors for Year of Mercy pilgrims. Holy Doors will be opened Dec. 13 at:
- The Cathedral of St. Peter in Wilmington;
- St. Joseph on the Brandywine Church in Greenville;
- Holy Spirit Church in New Castle;
- St. Elizabeth Church in Wilmington;
- St. Margaret of Scotland Church in Glasgow;
- St. Ann Church in Bethany Beach; and
- Holy Cross Church in Dover.
• Jubilee indulgence
Pope Francis announced a Jubilee indulgence for the complete remission of temporal punishment due to sin that can be obtained by Year of Mercy pilgrims who enter a Holy Door at a designated church. The pilgrim is also to combine his entry through the door with the sacrament of reconciliation, Mass and Communion, and prayers for the pope, the church and the world.
The sick and infirm can obtain the indulgence, Pope Francis wrote, by living “their sickness and suffering as an experience of closeness to the Lord,” living with “joyful hope,” and “receiving communion or attending Holy Mass and community prayer, even through the various means of communication.”
For those imprisoned, Pope Francis said, they may obtain the indulgence in a prison chapel and directing their thoughts and prayers “to the Father each time they cross the threshold of their cells.”
• The Pope Francis
The pope also encourages the faithful to perform the spiritual and corporal works of mercy this year.
“Each time that one of the faithful personally performs one or more of these actions, he or she shall surely obtain the Jubilee Indulgence,” Pope Francis wrote.
The indulgence can also be obtained for the deceased when they are remembered “in the Eucharistic celebration,” the pope added.
Here’s is a list of the Catholic Church’s spiritual and corporal works of mercy:
- The spiritual works of mercy: counsel the doubtful; instruct the ignorant; admonish sinners; comfort the afflicted; forgive offenses; bear wrongs patiently; and pray for the living and the dead.
- The corporal works of mercy: feed the hungry; give drink to the thirsty; clothe the naked; visit the imprisoned; shelter the homeless; visit the sick; and bury the dead.
