Here’s Everything About the Jubilee Door and Why You Should Care

The unfinished look of the Jubilee Door.

The year was 1521 — the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan made it to the Visayan shores and discovered the lovely islands of the Philippines. More than his discovery, Magellan brought an important practice that would later on be a huge part of our beliefs — Christianity.

Just last week, the church celebrated the 500th year of Christianity here in the Philippines. Along with the celebration, our local bishops opened over 500 Jubilee Churches and Doors around the country to strengthen and reaffirm our Christian faith.

What is a Jubilee Church?

A Jubilee Church is basically a designated church where people can visit to receive blessing and pardon from God. A church is declared as a Jubilee Church during a Jubilee year, which occurs every 25 or 50 years. In our case, a special Jubilee year was announced by Pope Francis to commemorate the Filipino Christianity’s quincentennial celebration.

What is a Jubilee door and what does it signify?

Of course with every Jubilee Church is its corresponding Jubilee Door, which is basically a holy door. Passing through a Jubilee Door is more than just regularly entering a church — it signifies obtaining the Lord’s mercy and salvation.

Anyone who visits any of the declared Jubilee churches and enters through the Jubilee doors will be granted plenary indulgence or removal of temporal punishment due to forgiven sin.

When will the Jubilee Door for the Diocesan Shrine and Parish of Our Lady of Aranzazu officially open?

The opening of the Jubilee Door of the Diocesan Shrine and Parish of Our Lady of Aranzazu will commence on April 17, 2021. It will be livestreamed online at 3:30 p.m.

Read: Philippine Church hails Aranzazu Shrine as Jubilee Church

List of Jubilee Churches for the celebration of the 500 Years of Christianity in the Philippines

As mentioned above, Filipino bishops have declared 500 Jubilee Churches in the country.

Here are the seven designated Jubilee Churches under the Diocese of Antipolo:

1. Diocesan Shrine and Parish of Our Lady of Aranzazu (San Mateo, Rizal)
2. National Shrine-Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage (Antipolo Cathedral)
3. Diocesan Shrine-Parish of Our Lady of Light (Cainta, Rizal)
4. Diocesan Shrine-Parish of Our Lady of the Abandoned (Marikina City)
5. Sta. Ursula Parish (Binangonan, Rizal)
6. San Ildefonso de Toledo Parish (Tanay, Rizal)
7. Nuestra Señora de la Anunciata Parish, Bosoboso, Antipolo City

You can view the complete list of Jubilee Churches around the Philippines here.

Until when will this special Jubilee year be around?

Devotees can visit any of the above-mentioned Jubilee Churches from April 4, 2021 until April 22, 2022 to be granted plenary indulgence.