The prefect Giannini and the mayor Roberto Gualtieri in the front row, in the papal basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano, which is also the seat of the vicariate. On the day that celebrates the feast of the Holy Family, the second of the four gates of Rome closes, after that of Santa Maria Maggiore.
The cardinal, vicar general of the Pope, after the solemn
entrance procession accompanied by the music of the course directed by Monsignor Marco Frisina, knelt in front of the Door and, after a moment of prayer, closed its doors.
But, he recalled in his homily, this closure must not make us forget the many pilgrims who «left on our streets the imprints of their steps burdened by the weights that pressed in their hearts. They went through the Holy Door to find the One they were looking for. The door of our cathedral has imprinted the caresses of all those who came by to seek mercy».
And he asks not to waste the legacy of the Jubilee year. «If we now close the Door», he explains, «we know that the Risen One passes through closed doorsand never tires of knocking on our closed doors. To offer and find mercy. Yes, to find, because he too is looking for it. In fact he told us about the last surprise, which will be when in the end, we will be judged on love, on mercy, on the glass of water to those who are thirsty; on the morsel of bread to the hungry; on closeness to those who are in prison or who are sick; on dressing the naked; welcome those who are foreigners. By doing it to the least of our brothers, we will have done it to Him. And how much hope there is in this being able to recognize everyone as brothers, including even those we consider enemies.”
