Archbishop to open Holy Door at St Mary’s Cathedral
Archbishop Timothy Costelloe prepares to enter the Holy Door at his installation Mass on 21 March 2012. Archbishop Costelloe will this month celebrate the commencement of the Jubilee Year of Mercy with the opening of the Holy Door at St Mary’s Cathedral on December 12. Photo: Ron Tan.
Archbishop Timothy Costelloe will this month celebrate the commencement of the Jubilee Year of Mercy with the opening of the Holy Door at St Mary’s Cathedral.
The landmark event will take place on Saturday, 12 December at the 6.00pm Mass, with all members of the Perth Catholic community invited to come together for the occasion.
The opening of the Holy Door for the Year of Mercy, which starts officially on 8 December on the feast of the Immaculate Conception, is in accordance with the wishes of Pope Francis.
A number of churches across the Archdiocese, Australia and the world, which have been designated as special places of pilgrimage for the Holy Year, will also open their Holy Doors.
Archbishop Timothy Costelloe said the ceremony will mark the beginning of our journey along the pathway set out by Pope Francis in the letter he wrote to announce this wonderful initiative (Misericordiae Vultus).
“In that letter, he calls on the Church and on each of us who, together, constitute the Church, to ‘echo the word of God that resounds strong and clear as a message and a sign of pardon, strength, help and love’,” (MV25) Archbishop Costelloe said.
“Ever since his election in 2013, Pope Francis has placed the theme of mercy at the heart of his ministry.
“He would tell us, I am sure, that he has done so because he has experienced the joy of God’s mercy in his own life.
“In accepting his election to the papacy, we are told that he said quite simply, ‘I am a sinner but I trust in the infinite mercy and patience of Our Lord Jesus Christ’.
“In this Jubilee Year, we are all invited to recognise that what is true for Pope Francis is also true for us.”
In a statement released this week, the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference said Pope Francis wants the Holy Year to be for believers, ‘a true moment of encounter with the mercy of God’.
The statement went on to say that the Holy Father asks the faithful to make pilgrimage to the Holy Door, open in every cathedral or in the churches designated by the diocesan bishop.
Everyone can participate in the Jubilee pilgrimage.
Throughout Australia, Holy Doors are planned in every diocese to symbolise our entry into a new experience of the mercy of God.
The National Office for Evangelisation will be a source of information and resources about how dioceses are celebrating the Year of Mercy locally.
The Jubilee Year of Mercy will conclude on 20 November 2016, the Feast of Christ the King.