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ON CHRISTMAS EVE, Pope Francis officially launched the Catholic Church’s 2025 Jubilee Year when he opened the “Holy Doors” of St Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican.
These doors only open during Jubilee Years, in a tradition that goes back to Pope Alexander VI in 1500.
Jubilee Years happen every 25 years within the Church, and extraordinary jubilees can also be called outside this timeframe, such as the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy in 2016.
The theme of this Jubilee Year is ‘Pilgrims of Hope’, with the Church aiming to highlight the impacts of war, the ongoing effects of Covid-19 pandemic, and the climate crisis.
To mark the beginning of the current Jubilee Year, Pope Francis will open five “Holy Doors”, the first of which was opened on Christmas Eve and the last which will be opened on Sunday at the Papal Basilica of Saint Paul.
“In Catholic tradition, the Holy Door represents the passage to salvation — the path to a new and eternal life, which was opened to humanity by Jesus,” explained Pope Francis in a document proclaiming the Jubilee Year of 2025.
But this symbolic gesture, dating back 1500 and which is meant to “evoke the passage from sin to grace”, has been described by some online as “the opening of five spiritual portals that have never been opened before”.
Others online say “this ritual has never been done before”.
So has Pope Francis opened a door to a new spiritual dimension?
No, and the claim seems to have started cropping up after an article by the New York Post.
The “sacred portals” referred to in the headline might be a misunderstanding of “Porta Sancta”, which is Latin for “Holy Door” and the term used for the Holy Door in St Peter’s Basilica.
However, one of the dictionary definitions of “portal” includes “grand and imposing doorway”, which is perhaps what the New York Post was aiming to convey.
Nevertheless, many online seemed to read the term “portal” as meaning a doorway to another dimension.
2015 image of Pope Francis opening the Holy Door to mark the start of the Jubilee Year of Mercy, on 8 December, 2015 Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
And the “never been done before” element of the headline refers to the fact that for the first time, the Holy Door in the Rebibbia Prison of Rome was opened.
Rebibbia Prison housed Mehmet Ali Ağca during his time in custody in Italy following an assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II on 13 May, 1981.
Pope John Paul II visited Ağca in his cell in Rebibbia and forgave him for the shooting.
Pope John Paul II in conversation with Ali Agca in a cell in the 'Rebibbia' prison. Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
Pope Francis requested the opening of this door and said that he hopes this act can be a “sign inviting prisoners to look to the future with hope and a renewed sense of confidence”.
Another incident which added fuel to the conspiracy was when Barstool Sports posted about the Holy Doors ceremony to its account on X, where it has over 6.1 million followers.
Barstool Sports describes itself as a “sports and pop culture blog covering the latest news and viral highlights of each and everyday”.
Its post on X on 12 December read: “Pope Francis Will Be Opening 5 Sacred Portals For A Special Catholic Ritual On Christmas Eve.”
A link accompaning the Barstool Sports’ post on X featured an article by ‘Charisma News’ which claimed that “another layer to this mystery is the broader conversation about portals—spiritual gateways between realms”.
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Charisma News describes itself as the “most trusted source for credible news and insight from a charismatic perspective”.
The Charisma News article adds: “Could the Vatican’s Holy Doors be more than symbolic? Are they inadvertently engaging in a spiritual practice they may not fully understand?”
The website also features a doctored image of an alien-esque door outside the Vatican.
In reality, the Holy Doors are symbolic and hark back to several Biblical scriptures – for example, in John’s Gospel Jesus says “I am the door” and in Luke’s Gospel Jesus says, “Knock, and the door will be opened for you”.
On the same day that Barstool Sports directed its followers on X to ‘Charisma News’, a TikTok user called ‘gracexdigital’ went somewhat viral with a post asking if anyone was “concerned about what the Vatican and the Pope are doing on Christmas Eve”.
“Sir, why are you trying to open five spiritual portals that have never been opened before? Maybe there’s a reason no one has tried to open them before,” she says in her TikTok post.
As noted above, this is a symbolic act that goes back to 1500 and the “never before opened” aspect relates to the opening of a Holy Door at Rebibbia Prison.
Meanwhile, many people online have asked how a cameraman was on the other side of the door in St Peter’s Basilica when Pope Francis symbolically opened it.
Pope Francis officially inaugurates the 2025 Jubilee Year with the solemn opening of the Holy Door at St. Peter's Basilica on 24 Dec., 2024 Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
“How did the camera get on the ceiling inside if nobody has been in there for like….forever?,” asked one person on X.
They had wrongly believed that the Holy Door opened into a never before entered space, and queried how a camera was in this untouched room.
And like the main entrance, the Holy Door simply opens into the nave of St Peter’s Basilica, with the Holy Door being located close to the Pietà by Michelangelo.
Pietà by Michelangelo, with the Holy Door slightly visible in the top right hand corner of the image. Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
The Tomb of Lucifer
TikTok user gracexdigital also claimed that the Vatican “livestreamed the Tomb of Lucifer, that’s under the Vatican, for people to see”.
It’s unclear where the origin for this claim lies, but could stem from a book titled ‘Guide to the Vatican Necropolis’ by Michele Basso.
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@Daniel Skelton: If he hasn’t ended the war in Ukraine by midnight tomorrow night then by his own criteria he’ll be a failure seeing as he said he’d end it on Day 1
@Ulick: I don’t watch RTE or even pay my TV licence to watch it, or any other media. I keep my head down and ignore all the bs in the world. But I know enough to know how Donald Dump the Rap ist is nothing but pure subhuman filth, along with his other disgusting buddy Musk. People who support Dump, are easily fooled and manipulated by him, just because he has a bit of charm. But realistically, he doesn’t have anyone’s interests at heart.
If you cannot understand that, then there’s no hope for you. But again, I just keep my head down and ignore the bs until it directly impacts me somehow.
@Pat O Dwyer: the wars wrapping up soon, you have being following the latest news out Kiev since trump was elected??? They want to make a deal so yes wars are ending people in gaza can sleep alot easier tonight, bidan wanted to keep sending arms trump said all hostages realised before I’m in, hostages being realised, what more do yous lot want
@Daniel Skelton: I think, deep down, people know we’re truly fecked with climate change, even if they claim otherwise. Americans want to go out with a bang, and to them, that means going on a few holidays a year, driving the biggest car you can get, and buying tat from Amazon. They’ve no other goals, god love them. And trump has tapped into that simplistic way of thinking.
@Fiona: no, it’s just pure ignorance- I don’t mean in a general way or even as an insult . but many Americans simply have no engagement with politics and don’t understand what they have voted for
@Liam deoráiste: seen a comment by some luny saying its a shame there isn’t a sniper around today, typical from that aggressive side, I’ve never come across a comment by anyone on here calling for a sniper to be around for bidan, again that other lot are aggressive thankfully there reign is over the world can have peace again
@Patricia Mc namara: both genders are born with nipples though, but what you are born with In the reproduction area allocates you to either of the TWO genders it’s actually not that difficult to understand.
@Robert: I agree. Trying to throw the man with the most votes in the entire country into prison for a financial crime, a few months before he was elected. The authoritarian left wing were no hindrance on the inevitable win of the Republican Party.
@Dermot Blaine: The libtard judge in the most liberal state in the USA, New York. Obviously it didn’t work once it got to the actual court. The Supreme Court.
@Paul Murphy: There’s over 400 million guns in America. 90% of them are owned by the right wing/Conservatives. You can see why the left wing are so desperate to get rid of the 2nd amendment. Because if any sort of civil war broke out, they would get Rittenhoused.
@Mr Sparkle: I’m sure I’ll get a response or 2 to this by lads who earn average salaries who think kissing the @rse of the super wealthy is a rebellious act, somehow
@Derek O Gorman: Too late. This hasn’t been about Trump for a long time now.
This is about racist, toxic-nationalist, couldn’t find Greenland on a map middle-of-America finding a figure head who tells them what they want to hear.
No sign of Bannon. Probably in a hut somewhere planning how he will rip their faces off. Maga eating major humble pie here. Big civil war in the GOP incoming.
Irish media love trump bashing. Media stateside have backed off the toxic reporting, time ours did too and report on the true issues faced the people of Ireland.
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