POPE CLOSES THE DOOR, PEOPLE RUSH TO GET FORGIVENESS, LAST CHANCE

 

HOLY DOOR RUSH PROMPTS VATICAN ACTION

January 11, 2001 - VATICAN CITY (AP) -- The Vatican has taken steps to accommodate a possible last minute rush from crowds during the final two days of the Holy Year.

The Holy Door at St Peter's Basilica will open late on Saturday to cater for the queues of tens of thousands of people snaking around St Peter's square.

The pope will close the door to mark the end of Catholic Church's year-long Jubilee 2000 celebrations and the huge crowds have turned out for their last opportunity to pass through it.

Pope John Paul has been so struck by the crowds waiting in cold rain that he has opened his studio window to greet them nearly every day.

Vatican officials said on Thursday the door would no longer be closed at 6 p.m.

The heavy, last-minute turnout "forces us, kindly, to keep the door open until the last pilgrim has passed through," said Monsignor Crescenzio Sepe, the Vatican's top official for the Holy Year activities.

Many of those in line on Thursday night in a rainstorm were Romans who waited until the last minute to pass through the door.

Pilgrims can gain an indulgence, or remission from punishment for their sins, by passing through St. Peter's Holy Door, as well as the doors of several other major basilicas.

The passage must be accompanied by prayer and other actions such as confession and receiving Communion to meet all the conditions for the indulgences.

The Vatican's celebration of the start of Christianity's third millennium culminates in a series of events on Saturday leading up to the closing of the door.

For security reasons, it will be closed late Friday night to prepare for the next morning's ceremony.

As the Christmas season approached, the Vatican said nearly 25 million people had come to Rome for the Holy Year since it began on Christmas Eve 1999.

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