Pope Francis has decided to personally open only two of the five “holy doors” in Rome, symbolic goals for pilgrims of the Jubilee of Hope. The first is that of St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican and he inaugurated it on Christmas Eve. The second is the one that opened this Thursday in the Rebibbia prison, the largest prison in Italy, on the outskirts of the Eternal City. He has done so at the express request of the prisoners, who requested it months ago with a letter. “I wanted the second holy door to be this one, in a prison, so that everyone has the possibility of opening wide the doors of the heart and seeing that hope does not disappoint,” the Pope explained as soon as he entered the prison. . Related news standard If Rome prepares for the Jubilee of Hope, which will attract 30 million pilgrims Javier Martínez-Brocal | Correspondent in The Vatican standard If Rome shields itself for the 2025 jubilee and intensifies surveillance of radical Islamists Ángel Gómez Fuentes | Correspondent in Rome «Keep your hearts open» Early in the morning, Francis arrived in a wheelchair to the threshold of the prison chapel, the church of the Lord’s Prayer. Then he stopped before its bronze gates, stood up, knocked on the door with six quick and decisive knocks, and from inside two people opened it. The Pope was the first to cross it, accompanied by two prisoners, a man and a woman, and two police officers. Inside he celebrated a mass before 300 people. Prisoners and police were sitting on the benches, together, happy and without tension. «It is a beautiful gesture to open this door wide. But the most important thing is what it means, which is opening hearts. I advise you to have your hearts open, because that builds brotherhood. Closed, hard hearts do not help to live. Therefore, the grace of a Jubilee is to open wide, to open,” he explained to them. The Pope was the first to cross it, accompanied by two prisoners, a man and a woman, and two police officers EPFrancisco He did not have the homily written, and he addressed them with a familiar tone and a frank and direct style. «Open wide the doors of the heart: each one knows where the door is closed or half closed. When it is closed, you forget about tenderness. Keep it open even in the most difficult situations, everyone has their own,” he said. The Italian Minister of Defense and the mayor of Rome, as well as more than 200 inmates of this prison, who still have a long sentence ahead of them, listened to him moved and in silence. «Open your hearts to hope. I also have to think about this, because in bad times one also believes that everything is over, that nothing is resolved, but hope never disappoints,” he confided. “Every day I pray for you.” He also told them that Hope is imagined “like the anchor that is on the shore and we, with the rope, are safe, because our hope is well supported. Sometimes it is difficult to hold on to this rope, and it hurts our hands, but this rope keeps us safe and allows us to move forward. There is always something good, there is always something that allows us to move forward. «I wish you a great Jubilee. I wish you much peace. And know that every day I pray for you. I mean it, it’s not a way of speaking: I think of you and I pray for you,” he concluded. In response, those participating in the ceremony responded with loud applause, perhaps not very liturgical, but sincere. Gifts from the prisonersWhen the mass was over, Francisco greeted the 300 people who were inside the prison chapel one by one. They have given him a painting by an artist who was once a prison police officer, a miniature holy door, and agricultural products grown by those serving their sentences. «May next year be better than this one, because each year must be better. And from here I want to greet all the inmates who are in the cell, who have not been able to come. Greetings to each and every one,” he said before leaving them. Upon leaving the penitentiary center, Francisco stopped with some journalists and told them that the detainees had told him their stories, and that while he listened to them, he thought that he could have been in his place. He added that there are only “small fish” in this prison, because “the big fish are clever enough to stay outside.” This visit has been “a sign of hope to regain self-confidence, and rediscover the esteem and solidarity of society,” explained Archbishop Rino Fisichella, organizer of the Jubilee. Indeed, since this morning the holy door of Rebibbia has the same value and the same indulgences and spiritual graces linked to that of St. Peter’s Basilica. It is the first time that a holy door has been opened in a prison. For the Pontiff, the key is that the gesture transmits the power that hope has for all people.
#Pope #opens #holy #door #largest #prison #Italy #bad #moments
