The Jubilee & the Four 'Holy Doors'

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Porta Santa, St Peter's Basilica

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The 2025 Jubilee officially began this evening at 19.00, when Pope Francis opened the Porta Santa (Holy Door) of St Peter's Basilica.
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The Holy Door is the most powerful sign of the Jubilee. To pass through it expresses the decision to follow and be guided by Jesus, who is the Good Shepherd As it states in St John’s gospel (10:9): 'I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture' (KJV).
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The Holy Door is the smallest of the five bronze doors of St Peter's Basilica. The work of Vico Consorti (1902-97), it was consecrated and opened by Pope Pius XII (r. 1939-58) on December 24th 1949, thereby officially marking the start of the Jubilee, or Holy Year, of 1950. 

The Holy Door is made up of sixteen bronze panels, which depict scenes inspired by the theme of the 1950 Jubilee, 'The great return and the great pardon'. There are scenes of sin, incredulity and denial, but also of reconciliation between man and God. The bottom right panel depicts Pope Pius XII Opening the Holy Door.  

The Porta Santa is only used on the occasion of a Jubilee (Holy Year), which is normally held every twenty-five years; for the rest of the time the portal is bricked up on the inside. At the start of a Jubilee the bricks are removed and the door is officially opened by the pope, who is the first person to enter the basilica through it. And, at the close of the Jubilee, he is the last person to leave through it. The portal is then once again bricked up. 
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St Peter's Basilica is not the only church in Rome to have a Porta Santa. There are Holy Doors in the other three Papal Basilicas: Santa Maria Maggiore (St Mary Major),
San Paolo fuori le Mura (St Paul Outside the Walls) and San Giovanni in Laterano (St John Lateran), Rome's cathedral.

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Pope Pius XII Opening the Holy Door of St Peter's Basilica

Porta Santa by Floriano Bodini, St John Lateran

Porta Santa by Guido Veroi, St Paul Outside the Walls

Porta Santa by Luigi Enzo Mattei, Santa Maria Maggiore