# Holy Doors **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [October 22, 2008, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-doors/469012 "2008-10-22T03:24:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-doors/469012/1 "2008-10-22T03:24:43Z")
Link to Cecil’s column: [Is there a door in St Peter’s basilica that’s opened once every 100 years?](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1166/is-there-a-door-in-st-peters-basilica-thats-opened-once-every-100-years) Cecil mentions “an odd tradition at St. Peter’s involving the Porta Santa, or Holy Door”. It’s worth noting that this “odd” tradition is not confined to Saint Peter’s Basilica. The three other papal basilicas in Rome (St John Lateran, St Paul Outside the Walls and Saint Mary Major) also have holy doors. The Jubilee pilgrimage and indulgence, to which Cecil refers later in the column, has traditionally required visiting all four basilicas and entering through their holy doors. ---
**Author:** ![Running\_with\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@Running\_with\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Running_with_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2008, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-doors/469012/2 "2008-10-24T16:53:24Z")
And while we’re on the subject, can someone explain the significance of > [@](#): > > the 1,950th anniversary of the Crucifixion and Resurrection I can see maybe celebrating the 2,000th anniversary, but what’s special about 1950? ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2008, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-doors/469012/3 "2008-10-25T01:15:48Z")
> [@Running\_with\_Scissors](#): > > And while we’re on the subject, can someone explain the significance of > I can see maybe celebrating the 2,000th anniversary, but what’s special about 1950? 2000 years out, if only the nice-round-number anniversaries were observed, the average Joe wouldn’t live long enough to see one. Moreover, there is specific Old Testament precedent for 50-year jubilees. ---
**Author:** ![Running\_with\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@Running\_with\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Running_with_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2008, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-doors/469012/4 "2008-10-25T02:51:59Z")
Yes, but in the article it stated that they already did it every 25 years… ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2008, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-doors/469012/5 "2008-10-26T21:15:05Z")
> [@Running\_with\_Scissors](#): > > And while we’re on the subject, can someone explain the significance of > > > [@](#): > > > > the 1,950th anniversary of the Crucifixion and Resurrection > > I can see maybe celebrating the 2,000th anniversary, but what’s special about 1950? It just seems to have been something that the Pope did of his own accord. I checked a Catholic Encyclopaedia that I have to see what it had to say about Holy Years. After talking about the ‘normal’ 25 year cycle, it goes on to say: > [@](#): > > At certain other times the Pope can decree the observance of another holy year. For example, Pope John Paul II decreed that the “year” beginning with the solemnity of the Annunciation in 1983 and ending with the solemnity of Easter in 1984 should be a special holy year in commemoration of the Redemption. He decreed that one of the themes of the year was sacramental Reconciliation because this theme was taken up in the Synod of 1983.