Churches that opened Holy Doors a year ago to mark the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy are invited to close them on Sunday, Nov. 13, as the year comes to an end. Hawaii has seven Holy Doors.
Pope Francis will solemnly conclude the Year of Mercy a week later with the closing of the Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica on Nov. 20, the Solemnity of Christ the King.
Bishop Larry Silva will close the Door of Mercy at the Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace during the 10:30 a.m. Mass on Sunday, Nov. 27.
At the Vatican last Dec. 8, Pope Francis ushered in the Year of Mercy by opening the Holy Door at St. Peter’s.
The pope explained in an apostolic letter that the Holy Door was “a Door of Mercy through which anyone who enters will experience the love of God who consoles, pardons, and instills hope.”
Passing through a Holy Door in Rome — either at St. Peter’s or one of the other three papal basilicas — was a requirement for pilgrims to obtain special graces during a jubilee year.
For the Year of Mercy, Pope Francis allowed bishops to open Holy Doors at their cathedrals and other churches in their dioceses.
Bishop Silva designated and opened the Honolulu cathedral’s Door of Mercy last Dec. 13. Inside, a large decorative artificial maile lei has hung around the top and sides of the mauka side exit all year. Over the door on the outside a sign spells the Hawaiian translation for “Door of Mercy.”
Besides the cathedral’s door, the Diocese of Honolulu has at least one Holy Door on each island: St. Catherine Church, Kapaa, Kauai; St. Theresa Church, Kihei, Maui; Sacred Hearts Church, Lanai City; St. Michael Church, Kailua-Kona, Big Island; St. Joseph Church, Hilo, Big Island; and St. Damien Church, Kaunakakai, Molokai.
According to instructions distributed by the diocesan Office of Worship, the doors may be closed during the Sunday Mass’s concluding rites or at a separate evening prayer service.
After the rites are concluded, the faithful are invited to process out of the church through the Holy Door. The presiding priest would be the last person to pass through the Holy Door which he would close behind him, symbolizing the end of the Jubilee Year of Mercy.
