By Lisa Dahm
Hawaii Catholic Herald
The closure of the Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome Jan. 6 marked the conclusion of a momentous year of spiritual renewal, learning and engagement for faithful in Hawaii and across the world.
After kneeling at the threshold in prayer, Pope Leo XIV secured the Holy Door — formally ending the Jubilee Year of Hope on the feast of the Epiphany.
“The holy door is closed, but the door of your mercy is not closed,” the pope prayed during the ceremony, followed by the celebration of Mass.
For Bishop Larry Silva, watching Pope Francis open the Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica on Dec. 24, 2024, and seeing Pope Leo close it earlier this month was one of the highlights of the special year.
“We must never stop growing in our faith, and the best way for us to grow in our faith is to share the faith with others,” Bishop Silva said. “We pray that the special graces of the Jubilee Year will keep us faithful and zealous in our mission.”
He said that he and many Hawaii Catholics made pilgrimages to Rome during the holy year. He even had a “blessed meeting” with the newly elected Pope Leo.
Education, evangelization
The diocesan Office of Evangelization and Catechesis oversaw many of the educational and worship opportunities offered throughout the Jubilee Year.
“Our primary goal was to reintroduce in-person catechetical opportunities to our communities after the pandemic, fostering renewed connection, formation and engagement,” said OEC Director Lisa Gomes in summarizing the “special year of spiritual renewal.”
Throughout the year, Gomes said, faithful of all ages and from across the state attended Days of Study, Nights of Worship, numerous workshops and keynote talks, and an Advent retreat.
Each event was “truly a gift,” she added.
“The feedback we received was overwhelmingly positive,” Gomes said. “Participants expressed gratitude for the depth of formation, the sense of community and the opportunities to encounter Christ through study and worship.
“If even a few people left these events feeling renewed in faith and inspired to live as ‘pilgrims of hope’ in their families, parishes and workplaces, then we’ve accomplished something truly important. Ultimately, I believe the seeds planted this year will continue to grow beyond 2025. That’s the spirit of the Jubilee: to renew, to restore and to send forth.”
Jubilee crosses
The Diocese of Honolulu’s answer to the Holy Doors in Rome was a Jubilee cross — actually, three of them.
The largest was installed at the Co-Cathedral of St. Theresa in Honolulu all year long; the other two, which were smaller “traveling crosses,” traversed Oahu’s parishes and traveled via airplane to the neighbor islands.
The crosses were designed and built by Deacon Ray Lamb, who is assigned to St. Theresa.
He said his first vision was not of a cross at all but a replica of St. Peter’s Basilica’s Holy Door. Bishop Silva then asked him to turn his creation into a cross that could be seen and venerated by Catholics throughout the entire diocese.
Deacon Lamb designed the main cross at the co-cathedral to be 12 feet high — the height of the Holy Door. The cross’ primary color is black, which he said represents the absence of light and therefore of Christ; at the same time, the cross is adorned with lights and gold emblems around the edges.
“Because Christ is the king, and the king has gold, that represents the kingly nature of Jesus, Christ in this Jubilee Year that we remember,” Deacon Lamb said in a video explaining his creation.
Red highlights toward the interior represent the blood Jesus shed on the cross, and the center of the cross resembles stained glass.
The Jubilee cross also bears numerous icons and metal medallions, which Deacon Lamb made to resemble the ones on the Holy Door. The icons depict guardian angels, the Last Supper and numerous images of Mary; according to Deacon Lamb, “They play significant roles in how our faith is communicated to us, especially through the Blessed Virgin Mary and the birth of Christ, so we didn’t want to lose that aspect of their role in our faith.”
At the bottom of the cross is the Jubilee Year emblem.
“As for me, a wonderful outcome of this Jubilee Year of Hope would be that all God’s people — we pilgrims on this journey of life — continue to hang on to the promise of Christ’s forgiveness achieved through the cross that we venerated and the hope of eternal life that comes for those who continue on this journey of faith,” Deacon Lamb said.
According to Father Manuel “Manny” Hewe, pastor of St. Theresa, many pilgrims came to visit the cross, including visitors from outside the diocese. St. Theresa School students also benefited from visiting and learning about the cross.
Though the Jubilee Year has ended, the cross will remain at St. Theresa, Father Hewe said.
“We will keep the cross there where we can make use of it in the future, because it’s beautifully done by Deacon Ray.”
Pilgrims of hope
Among the many isle parishioners who went on pilgrimages to Rome during the Jubilee Year were Lily and Deacon Joel Narusawa, and Roxanne and Deacon Renier “Rey” Torres.
(People who made the trip to Rome and walked through one of the four Holy Doors at the city’s major basilicas — St. Peter’s, St. John Lateran, St. Mary Major and St. Paul Outside-the-Walls — could receive plenary indulgences, permitted by Pope Francis.)
The Narusawas and Torreses traveled to Rome in February for the Vatican’s Jubilee of Deacons.
On one of their days in Rome, the couples providentially were the first people to walk through the Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica. Throughout the Jubilee Year about 90,000 visitors passed through the Holy Door every day, according to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, with more than 33 million pilgrims making the journey by year’s end.
The two couples prayed at St. Peter’s Basilica and other churches, including the Basilica of St. John Lateran.
“When we went through (the Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica), there were hardly any crowds,” according to Lily Narusawa. “Everything was a miracle.”
Above: A memorial to Pope Francis was set up at the foot of the Jubilee cross in the Co-Cathedral of St. Theresa following his death in April. (HCH file photo)