Holy Door opens for the Celestinian Forgiveness event
Pope Francis became the first pope in 728 years to open the Holy Door of a 13th-century basilica in L’Aquila, Italy, on Sunday. The pope participated in a centuries-old tradition, the Celestinian Forgiveness, known in Italian as the Perdonanza Celestiniana.
The ceremony of Forgiveness, only with a modern term called “Perdonanza”, was particularly enriched after 1327. When the remains of Pope Celestino were “transferred” from Ferentino (near Frosinone), where they were kept, to Collemaggio. And his relics were displayed to the people. It was in the fifteenth century, however, that the custom of entering Collemaggio through the Holy Door placed on the left side of the sacred building became established. According to what happened in the Roman patriarchal basilicas on the occasion of ...
