The Most Rev. John Alphonse Asiedu, SVD, Bishop of Donkorkrom Apostolic Vicariate in the Eastern Region of Ghana has explained the importance of opening a Holy Door in a Jubilee Year celebration, saying that it is the Door to the Heart of God.
“Every 25years, the Church calls us to celebrate a Jubilee Year, a time to go back to the essentials of our journey to God. Since a Jubilee year is a going back into the heart of God, it is inaugurated by opening a special door called the Holy Door of the Church. It is called Holy Door because it is the door to the heart of God. Our Church buildings represent the heart of God, (his city); in his heart, there is space for everyone,” he explained.
He further underscored that Church doors welcome Christians into the heart of God, through Christ, who is the door of Salvation, whom the church is charged to proclaim everywhere and to everyone as “our Hope”.
The Bishop added that the opening of the Jubilee Door by the Pope in Rome, thus marked the beginning of the Jubilee year, and as he walked through the “Holy Door,” “it signified the whole Catholic Church; spiritual pilgrims on earth, after 25years, re-entering into the heart of God”.
The Local Ordinary explained further that the Holy Door will once again be closed by the Holy Father on January 6, 2026 – the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord, after a year of “journeying into the riches of God’s love, as a church in the Jubilee Year; learning from his kindness to strangers, widows, orphans, the sick and the oppressed.
“What it means is that, after the Jubilee Year encounter, Catholics are sent out to their homes, families, communities, places of work, their cities and towns, to nourish their own lives and the entire world with the fruits and gifts received for the next 25years, the next Jubilee Year,” he reiterated.
“As Jesus our brother and leader walks us through this “Holy Door” today, may the Holy Spirit direct all our efforts and help us benefit fully from the graces and blessings for all his faithful ones,” he prayed.
The February 8, 2025 Opening of the “Holy Door” featured a procession from the old Church surrounding to the present site of the St. Francis Xavier Cathedral, the Door Opening Ritual, culminating in a Solemn Holy Mass officiated by the Bishop and concelebrated by a score of Priests from the Vicariate.
Also present for the ceremony were a number of Religious from the various Communities within the Vicariate, representatives from the various Parishes, together with the faithful of St. Francis Xavier Cathedral.
Rev. Fr. Leopold Ettuh, Chancellor of the Vicariate and Chairman of the Jubilee Planning Committee in an address after the Mass shared with the Christians the programme of activities for the year-long Jubilee, as well as the various groups that would be involved.
According to Fr. Ettuh, the month of March is dedicated to Catechists, April for Children, June for Youths, August for Workers and October for Choirs.
The various activities to be carried out, he noted, would include visitation to the sick and aged, clean-up exercises, visiting the prison inmates that would be carried out by the faithful of Fori-Fori, together with the priests and religious of the Vicariate. There will also be fundraising to help organize the climax of the Jubilee celebration. Every group is expected to organize itself at Parish level, and reports of activities would be sent by the Priests-in-charge to the Secretariat.
The Christians were further informed that the Jubilee Prayer which has been made available in the English, Twi and Ewe languages, will be prayed every time there is Mass, before the final Prayer by the Priest. Parish priests were encouraged to multiply the copies of the prayer leaflets to meet the needs of their respective Church communities.
Rev. Fr. Vincent Amuzu Asafo, SVD, Bishop Secretary and Assistant Cathedral Administrator announced to the faithful that with the opening of the “Holy Door,” the Cathedral becomes a Pilgrimage Centre for the local church of Donkorkrom, and would henceforth be the only door to be used every Sunday and any other day there is an activity in the Church.
He therefore encouraged Priests and Religious in charge to bring groups, schools and societies to pass through, and pray at the Holy Door, as often as possible, in order to gain the graces and blessings that go with using the “Holy Door”.
By Sr. Sylvie Lum Cho, MSHR (DEPSOCOM, Donkorkrom Apostolic Vicariate)
