In celebration of the Catholic Church’s Jubilee Year of Mercy, the “Holy Door” at the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral in downtown Cebu City will be opened on Sunday, December 13.
Anyone who passes through the Holy Door, and who recently went to confession, receives Holy Communion, and prays for the intercession of the Holy Father and the Church will receive plenary indulgence or complete remission of all temporal punishment due to sins, said Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma.
The Holy Door, located at the left portion of the cathedral, evokes the passage from sin to grace.
It will be opened until the end of the Jubilee Year of Mercy on Nov. 20, 2016.
The Holy Door at the cathedral was opened during the Jubilee celebration in 2000 and during the 75th anniversary of the Archdiocese of Cebu in 2009.
While only cathedrals have Holy Doors, Palma designated four other parishes in Cebu as “Jubilee churches” so more people can receive God’s mercy and graces.
Aside from the Cebu Cathedral, the other Jubilee churches in Cebu are the Archdiocesan Shrine of St. Catherine of Alexandria in Carcar City, Archdiocesan Shrine of San Vicente Ferrer in Bogo City, Saints Peter and Paul Parish in Bantayan Island and St. Joseph Parish in San Franciso, Camotes Island.
“The Jubilee Year of Mercy is a special year of favor. This is a year when we should try to make people experience the mercy of god. It’s an admission that we need God’s mercy,” Palma said in an interview.
In Rome, Pope Francis will lead the opening of the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy today when Catholics also celebrate the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of Mary.
The Holy Year of Mercy aims to bring those who have gone astray back to God’s loving embrace.
Although they could not pass through the Holy Door, Pope Francis said sick people and the elderly, who are confined at home and the hospitals, can still access the Jubilee indulgence by receiving communion or attending Holy Mass and community prayer, even through the various forms of media.
Prisoners, on the other hand, can obtain the indulgence in the chapels of their prisons.
The Holy Father said one can also offer the Jubilee indulgence for the deceased so they will be freed of every remnant of fault and share in God’s glory in heaven.
During the Jubilee Year, all priests are also given the faculty to absolve women who have had abortions. Under the usual circumstances, only bishops can hear confession of those who committed abortions.
The Holy Year of Mercy is intended to encourage people to renew their relationship with God and to ask forgiveness for sins committed.