The Holy Door of the Basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano is closed. It is the second after that of Santa Maria Maggiore, closed on Christmas Day.
Presiding over the rite, which was also attended by the mayor of Rome, Roberto Gualtieri, was the cardinal vicar, Baldo Reina.
Reina: “Absence of solidarity in Rome”
The homily of the cardinal vicar Baldo Reina for the closing of the Holy Door today, Saturday 27 December, represented an indictment of the “absences” of today’s Rome, a severe and precise list: “The absence of solidarity in the gap between the periphery and the center – he explained – the absence of attention to economic and existential miseries; the absence of fraternity in which we resign ourselves even in the presbytery to remaining alone or to leaving ourselves alone; the absence in which families are dispersed, bonds become fragile, generations oppose each other, dependencies become chains; the absence at times of justice, which does not respond to the very high calling of politics to remove obstacles so that everyone can find equal opportunities to realize their dreams, give substance to their dignity with work and fair wages, have a home, be defended and cared for in their fragility”.
According to Reina, the task of safeguarding the possibility of surprise arises precisely from marginality: “I myself feel like the custodian of the possibility that this surprise finds space in our announcing the Gospel, finds a home in our communities, finds substance in our being ministers of God, finds its fulfillment in a city where many have lost hope”.
The homily ended with a question that asks for a collective examination of conscience: “Can we profess our faith without worrying about how many, due to the burdens they have to carry, the pain they suffer, the injustices they suffer, are unable to see anything other than an empty tomb, the most acute sign of absence?”. Finally, the delivery of the Jubilee legacy: “What does this Jubilee year leave us? It leaves us with a widespread feeling of the proximity of the God of surprises”. A proximity which, for the diocese of Rome, now becomes a task that cannot be postponed: “A new time begins for our diocese. Let us combine our prayers and our strengths and resources to be a place that reveals the presence of the Lord, which bears witness to his proximity by becoming close to each other, without forgetting anyone”.
Next appointments
Tomorrow, Sunday 28 December, the Holy Door of San Paolo Fuori Le Mura will be closed. And, finally, on January 6, the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica will also be closed with a ceremony presided over by Pope Leo XIV and the Jubilee will officially end.
