Pope Francis opens ‘holy door’ at one of largest prisons in Italy
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The pontiff opened the door at the Rebibbia jail to show ‘hope does not disappoint’. Pope Francis has visited one of the largest prisons in Italy, opening a special “holy door” for the Catholic church’s 2025 jubilee, in what the Vatican described it as a “historic move” as it is the first time a sacred portal has been opened at a jail.
![[A seated pope in white robes waves at onlookers who are standing behind a barrier outside a prison.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/7156076d4cbf1d6ffad60d99586af2a446799746/0_389_7087_4253/master/7087.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Speaking to hundreds of inmates on Thursday at the Rebibbia prison on the outskirts of Rome, in a gesture of hope to show his closeness to detainees, Francis said he wanted to open the door, part of the prison chapel, and one of only five that will be open during the “holy year”, to show that “hope does not disappoint”.
“I wanted the second holy door I open to be here at a prison,” said the Pope, who kicked off the “jubilee of hope” by opening the holy door of St Peter’s Basilica on Christmas Eve on Tuesday. In the papal bull marking the jubilee, titled “Spes non confundit” (hope does not disappoint), the pope has called for “forms of amnesty or pardon” for prisoners and for “pathways of reintegration” dedicated to them, as well as for “the abolition of the death penalty”.
Speaking at the noon Angelus service, the pope described prison as a kind of “cathedral of pain and hope”. Francis said: “I like to think of hope as the anchor that is on the shore and, with the rope, we are safe. Do not lose hope: this is the message I want to give you, to give all of us … because hope never disappoints.
