Three Holy Doors, and the One Still Waiting

2025 was a Jubilee year. In a Jubilee, the four great basilicas of Rome open their Holy Doors: St. Peter's, St. John Lateran, St. Mary Major and St. Paul Outside the Walls. The rest of the time these doors stay sealed. A Jubilee comes only every 25 years.

So passing through all four has been on my bucket list. In July 2025, my daughter and I went to Rome.

St. Peter's Basilica

The Holy Door of St. Peter's is the one everyone knows. Pilgrims pass through it to receive the Jubilee indulgence. With it comes confession, communion and a prayer for the Pope's intentions.

[One or two sentences: what it felt like to walk through.]

Inside, the basilica is beyond words: the height, the light, the art on every wall.

The other doors

After St. Peter's, we also went through the Holy Doors of [the second basilica] and [the third basilica].

Three out of four.

The one still waiting

The Jubilee ended in January 2026, and the doors were sealed again. The next ordinary Jubilee is in 2050. I will be older, but the door will open again, and I hope to be there to walk through it.

That is the thing about a bucket list. Some items you finish in a day. Some take 25 years.

More photos: Vatican Through My Lens.