Cardinal Harvey’s closing of the Holy Door at St. Paul Outside the Walls on December 28, 2025, stood apart through his homily’s uncompromising message. Rather than offering ceremonial comfort, he challenged pilgrims to abandon self-sufficiency and embrace radical trust in God’s mercy. The archpriest emphasized that passing through the Holy Door demanded authentic spiritual transformation, not superficial optimism. His words reframed the Jubilee as a call to ongoing dependence on divine grace, and the ceremony’s deeper significance reveals how one basilica’s closure carried unexpected weight.
The Papal Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls concluded its observance of the 2025 Jubilee Year on December 28, 2025, when Cardinal James Harvey, the basilica’s archpriest, celebrated Mass and closed the Holy Door that had welcomed pilgrims throughout the year.
While the ceremony marked a liturgical conclusion aligned with dioceses worldwide, the American cardinal’s homily distinguished the event from standard ritual observance by addressing the deeper spiritual demands of the Jubilee experience.
Cardinal Harvey’s homily transcended ceremonial language to articulate the Jubilee’s fundamental spiritual requirements for genuine transformation.
Cardinal Harvey preached that passing through the Holy Door required pilgrims to abandon pretensions of self-sufficiency and entrust themselves to God for full meaning in life.
This message moved beyond commemorative language to challenge assumptions about personal autonomy, framing the Jubilee not as sentimental exercise but as invitation to fundamental reorientation.
His emphasis on trusting confidence while passing through history, coupled with explicit avoidance of naïve optimism, presented the year’s conclusion as spiritual assessment rather than ceremonial closure.
The timing positioned St. Paul’s between two other major basilica closings.
Cardinal Baldassare Reina had closed the Holy Door at the Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran on December 27, while Pope Leo XIV was scheduled to close St. Peter’s on January 6, 2026.
Each archpriest delivered distinct homily messages, but Cardinal Harvey’s focus on abandoning self-sufficiency and avoiding superficial optimism offered particular theological clarity about what the Jubilee demanded from participants.
The 2025 Jubilee Year followed the Church’s tradition of ordinary Jubilees held every 25 years, focusing on mercy, peace, and spiritual renewal.
Holy Doors at major basilicas allowed pilgrims physical passage that symbolized spiritual transformation.
Cardinal Harvey’s homily underscored that this transformation required genuine trust rather than comfortable reassurance, raising thanksgiving to the Father while maintaining awareness of ongoing need for divine mercy. He also reminded the faithful of the church’s obligation to provide pastoral care and compassionate support to those struggling in faith.
The closing ceremony served as a reminder that God’s mercy remains accessible to all even beyond the formal conclusion of the Jubilee year.
Before closing the Holy Door, the cardinal knelt in prayer in contemplative silence.
Vatican News documented the ceremony with video coverage lasting 35 seconds.
The liturgical event formally concluded the Jubilee at one of Rome’s four major basilicas, but Cardinal Harvey’s preaching suggested the experience would remain incomplete without continued dependence on God beyond the year’s official end.
