Rome And The Extraordinary Jubilee Of Mercy

 If there are not already enough reasons for you to visit Rome in this moment, there is a supplementary one, very important, especially for the Catholics: the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy, convoked by Pope Francis.
This Jubilee started on the 8th of December, feast of the Immaculate Conception, with the traditional opening of the "Holy Door" of the Saint Peter's Basilica by the Pope; and will end on the 20th November 2016, feast of " Christ the King". 

Saint Peter Basilica From The River Tiber

Even if only 15 years passed from the previous one (in the 2000), this "extraordinary" Jubilee is, in fact, a return to an old tradition because it happens exactly 50 years after a very important event for the "modernisation" of the Roman Catholic Church:  the end (the 8th of December 1965) of the Second Vatican Council. 
The Jubilee has not, however, been invented in Rome by the popes but has his roots in the Bible. Exactly in the Book of Leviticus that says that, every 50 years, all the slaves and all the prisoners would be freed, the debts forgiven and the land returned to their former owners. All this, in the name of mercy of God.

Saint John Lateran

The 50 years period is based on the "magic" number 7. In fact, between two Jubilees, or Holy Years, there are 49 years that represent "seven Sabbath of years" says the Bible. In other words,  "seven time seven years". That special year of forgiveness was announced in the whole country with the blowing of a ram's horn called "yobel" in Hebrew. The word Jubilee comes from that and not at all from the Latin "jubilare" that means shout of joy or jubilate.

Saint Paul Outside the Walls

This old Jewish tradition was renewed at the beginning of the fourteenth century by the pope Boniface VIII. He organised, in the year 1300, the first Jubilee in Rome with the intention to encourage pilgrims to come to Rome to obtain a plenary indulgence, the complete remission of the pains for their sins, exactly as the Crusaders had going to deliver Jerusalem. In 1499, the pope Alexander VI (Rodrigo Borgia) introduced the rite of entering through the Holy Doors of the fourth principal basilicas of Rome:  Saint Peter, Saint John Lateran, Saint Paul Outside the Walls and Saint Mary Major. For centuries, the popes didn't really respect the traditional period of 50 years and convoked Jubilee much more often, for different reasons.

Saint Mary Major

For this extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy that really began on the 29 November with the opening of the Holy Door of the cathedral of Bangui, in Central African Republic, by pope Francis, the three first roman doors are already opened and the last one, S. Mary Major, is going to be opened on the 1st January. But today, the pilgrims have not to go, like at the time of Borgia, in 1500, through the Holy Doors of the four basilicas. And certainly not, as in 1300 when, to obtain the plenary indulgence, they had to go to Saint Peter's and Saint Paul once a day for for thirty days if they were Roman, and "only" for fifteenth days if they were strangers!
Anyway, even for who is not religious or not a Roman Catholic it is absolutely worth to visit the marvellous four most important roman basilicas.  

A Panoramic View From Saint Peter Dome