Ten thousand Holy Doors plus the mobile one in Wales

A mobile Holy Door has travelled from deanery to deanery during the Lenten period across the Diocese of Wrexham, North Wales. Since a good portion of the population of the diocese is old and would find it hard to go to the Cathedral to pass through the Holy Door, the bishop, Monsignor Peter Brignall has built a

a collapsible white, light yet solemn door,

was loaded on a cart every Saturday and re-assembled every time in a different church, enabling all the faithful in the diocese to experience this moment.

“The signifies the great door of the mercy of God but also the small doors of our churches, open to allow the entrance of the Lord — or often the exit of the Lord — who is a prisoner of our structures, of our selfishness and of so many things.” Msgr. Brignall quoted Pope Francis to explain the idea of this door, whose purpose is not to close anyone out and that has nothing to defend, but only to invite inside. This “creative” bishop has had the intuition of extending beyond the idea of a Holy Door that remains still and waits for people to cross it. The mobile-Holy Door of Wrexham is transportable to bring the mercy of God close to everyone, thereby conducting this special symbol of the Jubilee Year experienced by the Church to all believers. As if to say: mercy seeks people where they are and the effort that should be made to reach out to it, feel it, pass through it, enter inside is but a minor effort.

The Door has thus let itself be crossed especially by the elderly and the sick, a silent, discreet part of the population of Wrexham, present in many cities in Wales and beyond.

In the words of Pope Francis, it is yet another periphery, populated by the elderly, by the sick, by those who are impaired and suffering in their movement. That of Wales is an extraordinary example of pastoral creativity.

Thus the total number of pilgrims passing through the Holy Door should also include all those with severe mobility problems. This condition has worsened along with the progressive aging of the European population. It is easy to imagine that Pope Francis must have smiled when he learned the estimated number of pilgrims who passed through the Holy Door of St. Peter since December 8. It is a smile justified by the fact that it’s impossible to calculate the multitudes of pilgrims who in every corner of the earth have crossed and will continue to cross the Holy Doors of mercy that such an extraordinary spring wind has ushered in throughout every corner of earth and in the most unexpected places.

The mercy of God cannot be controlled nor can it be measured, or even managed. It cannot be organized. It descends and embraces everyone like a heavy rainfall that washes away the wounds, the dirt, that clenches our thirst and nourishes the soil.

However, there is perhaps a figure that must be updated. To the 10 thousand Holy Doors opened worldwide should be added the mobile door in Wales. Thus, 10 thousand Holy Doors plus one.