Following the provisions made in the Bull of Indiction, Pope Leo XIV closes the Holy Door of Saint Peter’s Basilica, marking the end of the Ordinary Jubilee of 2025.
In the Prayer of Thanksgiving for the Ordinary Jubilee Year, we are reminded that even if the Holy Door is closed, the doors of God’s Mercy remain wide open.
After the prayer was recited by Pope Leo, he spent a few moments of silent prayer, kneeling at the threshold of the Holy Door. After this, he will personally close the two bronze door leaves.
The rite of closing the Holy Door will immediately be followed by the Celebration of the Holy Mass for the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord, which is still celebrated on 06 January in Rome.
The actual walling-up of the Holy Door will take place at a later time, in private. There are rites to be followed which are overseen by the Office of Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff.
The rites for the closing of the Holy Door were established in 1975. Then, the walling-up of the door was done publicly. These rites were simplified by Saint John Paul II during the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000, when the walling-up of the door was now deigned to be done in private.
The Holy Doors of Rome will be opened once more in 2033, during the Extraordinary Jubilee of Redemption, commemorating the 2000th Year since the Death of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Screenshot from the Vatican Media