Worldandnation: Pope opens door on new millennium

Pope opens door on new millennium

©New York Times

ROME -- In a moment he has been waiting for his entire pontificate, John Paul II opened wide the Holy Door to St. Peter's basilica Friday evening, ushering in a holy year that is supposed to set the tone for the third millennium.

"At this hour, the word "today' rings out with a unique sound," the pope said in his midnight Mass homily. "It is not only the commemoration of the birth of the Redeemer, it is the solemn beginning of the Great Jubilee."

Thirty-five minutes before midnight, following a 500-year-old ritual, the 79-year-old Roman Catholic leader, at first unsteady and supported by two aides, used both hands to push open bronze doors that are kept bricked up until a Jubilee, a holy year, begins. Then, assisted by the two aides, he sank to his knees in prayer.

Christmas Eve is one of the most sacred days on the Roman Catholic calendar, but this year's is laden with unparalleled significance, marking the opening of the Holy Year of the new millennium, and, in the minds of many, the 2,000th anniversary of the birth of Jesus. (If, as according to traditional belief, Jesus was born in 1 A.D., then the actual 2,000th anniversary would be in 2001.)

It is also a deeply personal triumph for John Paul II, whose failing health has at times put his ability to manage a holy year into question. "It is difficult not to be overcome by the eloquence of this event," the pope said in his homily. "We remain enthralled."

Moments after his surprise election in 1978, as the first non-Italian pope in more than four centuries, Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski, a fellow Pole, whispered to him, "If God has chosen you, he has chosen you to lead the church into the next millennium."

With as many as 20-million pilgrims expected to visit Rome this year, the 2000 Jubilee is the largest ever held by the Vatican, and the first that marks the turn of a millennium. Modern technology, from live television and Internet coverage to Vatican-issued pilgrim cards equipped with microchips that can be used to book religious services, tour buses and restaurants, has made it the most widely accessible. Fifty-eight countries, including Cuba, requested a link to broadcast Friday night's event live, for an estimated audience of 1-billion people.

Friday night, 8,200 people were squeezed inside St. Peter's, which usually holds 7,000. Outside, in St. Peter's Square, 40,000 invited guests were seated, craning for a glimpse of the pope on giant TVs.

And tens of thousands of others crammed around the life-size creche and a 78-foot Christmas tree on the square. As the doors opened, a symbol of the threshold to salvation, the crowd applauded.

"After 2,000 years, we relive this mystery as a unique and unrepeatable event," the pontiff said.

The opening of the Holy Door is the main symbol of a Jubilee, the Catholic term derived from the Hebrew word yobel, a law handed down by Moses requiring that slaves be freed and debts forgiven every 50 years. Because each pope wanted to preside over a Holy Year, starting in 1475 they were scheduled to occur every 25 years.

The Vatican broke with other traditions, including the ritual of the pope using a medieval gilded silver hammer to knock down the brick wall that conceals the Holy Door. On Christmas Eve 1974, cement fragments flew close to the head of Pope Paul VI, injecting a frisson of panic in what was supposed to be a solemn moment. From then on, the Vatican decreed that the brick wall should be torn down a few days early.