The pilgrimage to Rome
History
From the beginnings of Christianity, after the conversion of the Emperor Constantine, the first pilgrims were able to go ad limina apostolorum, that is to the tombs of the Apostles Peter and Paul as well as to the Catacombs, burial places of the first martyrs.
In 990, Sigeric, Bishop of Canterbury, went to Rome and on his return described the 80 stages of his itinerary, which bears the name Via Francigena and, starting from England, crosses France and Tuscany to reach Rome.
After the loss of the Holy Land, preventing any pilgrimage to Jerusalem, the Jubilee of 1300 proclaimed by Boniface VIII drew thousands of pilgrims to Rome — called romieux — to obtain the Plenary Indulgence granted to those who visited the tombs of the Apostles. Whereas the earliest guides — the Mirabilia — steered pilgrims only towards places of worship, from the twelfth century new guides were written for pilgrims also eager to see the remains of the grandeur and glory of ancient Rome.
In 1397, after the return of the Papacy to Rome, Nicholas V and his successors began major works that turned a medieval town into the capital of Christendom. From then on the conditions of the Indulgence attached to Holy Years required visits to the four Major Basilicas — St Peter's — St Paul Outside the Walls — St John Lateran and Santa Maria Maggiore.
In 1540 St Philip Neri included for the Jubilee of 1550 three minor basilicas — Santa Croce in Gerusalemme — St Sebastian Outside the Walls and St Lawrence Outside the Walls. He thus created the Tour of the Seven Churches — Il Giro delle Sette Chiese — with its highly symbolic number.
The Major Basilicas of the pilgrimage and their relics
This basilica is the Seat of the Bishop of Rome, and therefore of the Pope, and also the Mother and Head of all the churches of the City and of the World. In its ciborium are the heads of St Peter and St Paul. The last door on the right is the Holy Door. Opposite stands the Scala Santa, or Holy Stairs, which came from Pilate's praetorium and which the faithful climb on their knees.
In a crystal and silver reliquary are preserved fragments of the Holy Crib.
Pope Sixtus III in 432 created the first Nativity grotto there.
The last door on the left, whose panels honour the Virgin, Mother of God, is the Holy Door.
The body of St Paul, miraculously spared in the fire of 1823 that destroyed the Basilica, lies in a sarcophagus under the ciborium. A window makes it possible to see it, as well as a piece of the chain that bound St Paul to his gaoler before his trial. In 2009 Pope Benedict XVI confirmed that the Apostle's body does indeed rest in this sarcophagus. On the right the Holy Door dates from the Jubilee of the year 2000.
The tomb of the Apostle Peter, recognised as such by Paul VI in 1968, lies in the Vatican Necropolis under the Basilica, and bone fragments attributed to St Peter have been placed in a bronze reliquary. It is possible, by reservation, to visit the Necropolis and the Tomb of St Peter. The door on the right, which is the Holy Door, was erected for the Jubilee of 1950 in the style of the fifteenth century.
The Minor Basilicas of the pilgrimage and their relics
A first church was founded around 325 in the Palace of St Helena, the mother of the Emperor Constantine, to house the Relics she brought back from her Pilgrimage to the Holy Land, but the present Basilica dates from the eighteenth century. In the Chapel of the Relics are preserved, visible behind glass, a fragment of the wooden panel fixed to the Cross of Christ and bearing the word Nazarene, two Thorns from the Holy Crown, a piece of one of the nails of the Crucifixion, a fragment of the Cross of the Good Thief and a few small fragments of the True Cross.
ST LAWRENCE OUTSIDE THE WALLS
The Basilica, badly damaged by bombing during the Second World War, was rebuilt identically and preserves under the ciborium the Tombs of St Lawrence and St Stephen.
ST SEBASTIAN OUTSIDE THE WALLS
The Basilica stands at the entrance to a vast Early Christian necropolis. The Chapel of the Relics preserves footprints attributed to Christ going to Rome to take the place of the Apostle Peter fleeing Nero's persecution (QUO VADIS DOMINE), an arrow from the martyrdom of St Sebastian and a piece of the Column to which he was bound.
The jubilees
The origin of the Jubilees lies in the Old Testament, where every fifty years the day of atonements is proclaimed. In those years debts are remitted, slaves are freed and the land is left fallow.
The first Jubilee of the Christian Era was proclaimed by Boniface VIII in 1300, who set the following jubilees at every 100 years. During that Holy Year, under certain conditions, a plenary indulgence was granted, which brought a large influx of pilgrims.
Clement VII set them at every fifty years and Urban VI at every 33 years in memory of Christ's earthly life. Paul II in 1470 set them at 25 years, with the possibility of proclaiming special Holy Years. Down to our own day 29 Jubilees have been decreed.
The Jubilee of the year 2000, under John Paul II, was proclaimed for the turn of the third millennium and is said to have drawn thirty million visitors, which led to major works in Rome. The Jubilee of Mercy, proclaimed by Pope Francis, though a great media and spiritual success, did not attract the influx of visitors feared by the city authorities.
Pope Francis announced that 2025 would be a Jubilee year. The theme chosen is "Pilgrims of Hope".
Opening and closing of the Holy Doors
The Holy Door symbolises the Faithful's path towards Salvation, for Jesus himself said "If anyone enters through me, he will be saved".
Although the Holy Door is linked to the Jubilee, the first was opened only in 1423 at St John Lateran, and it was only in the sixteenth century that the four Major Basilicas were opened simultaneously, the Pope reserving that of St Peter's for himself.
The Pope with a golden hammer struck three blows on the wall and brought down a few bricks. The masons then fully cleared the opening to allow the Pope to pass first into the Basilica. For the closing, with a golden trowel he symbolically sealed three bricks and placed in the threshold a casket containing a few gold and silver coins. Masons then raised the wall on the inside and on the outside because, until 1975, the Holy Door was closed by a wall and not by a door. From that date the ritual was changed and the Pope merely opens and closes the leaves of the Door. The wall built inside the Basilica is removed the day before.