Pope to formally proclaim holy year in front of basilica's Holy Door
http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1501410.htm
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Celebrating the first vespers for Divine Mercy Sunday, Pope Francis formally will deliver the "bull of indiction" or proclamation of the extraordinary Holy Year of Mercy.
Portions of the document will be read in front of the Holy Door at St. Peter's Basilica April 11, the Vatican announced. The Holy Door, usually bricked up, is opened at the beginning of a jubilee year.
The Holy Year of Mercy is scheduled for Dec. 8, 2015, to Nov. 20, 2016.
The other major basilicas of Rome also have Holy Doors that are opened for jubilee years. The papal document proclaiming the year of mercy will be read April 12 at the Basilica of St. John Lateran by Cardinal Agostino Vallini, vicar for Rome; the Basilica of St. Mary Major by Cardinal Santos Abril Castello, archpriest of the basilica; and the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls by U.S. Cardinal James M. Harvey, archpriest of St. Paul's.
During a Lenten penance service in March, Pope Francis announced his intention to proclaim the holy year as a way for the church to "make more evident its mission to be a witness of mercy."
Holy Years usually are held every 25 years; the last was the great jubilee of the year 2000. Holy years feature special celebrations and pilgrimages, strong calls for conversion and repentance, and the offer of special opportunities to experience God's grace through the sacraments, especially confession.
Extraordinary holy years, like the Holy Year of Mercy, are less frequent, but offer the same opportunities for spiritual growth.
Announcing the publication of the papal bull, the Vatican press office also explained how formal papal documents came to have that name: "The term bull -- from the Latin 'bulla' meaning 'bubble' or, more generally, a rounded object -- originally indicated the metal capsule used to protect the wax seal attached with a cord to a document of particular importance to attest to its authenticity and, as a consequence, its authority.
"Over time, the term began to be used first to indicate the seal, then the document itself, so that nowadays it is used for all papal documents of special importance that bear, or at least traditionally would have borne, the pontiff's seal," the statement said.
The papal bull for a holy year, it said, indicates its opening and closing dates and "main ways in which it will be implemented." It is considered the primary document for understanding "the intentions and the outcomes hoped for by the pontiff." END
Bull of Indiction for the Jubilee of Mercy: 11 April in St. Peter's Basilica
http://www.news.va/en/news/bull-of-indiction-for-the-jubilee-of-mercy-11-apri
Vatican City, 31 March 2015 (VIS) – Following the first announcement of the next extraordinary Holy Year by Pope Francis on 13 March, the Holy Father will proceed with the official indiction of the Jubilee of Mercy with the publication of the Bull of Indiction on Saturday 11 April, at 5.30 pm in St. Peter’s Basilica.
The rite of publication will involve the reading of various passages of the Bull before the Holy Door of the Vatican Basilica. Pope Francis will subsequently preside at the celebration of First Vespers of Divine Mercy Sunday, thus underlining in a particular way the fundamental theme of the extraordinary Holy Year: God’s Mercy.
The term bull (from the Latin bulla = bubble or, more generally, a rounded object) originally indicated the metal capsule used to protect the wax seal attached with a cord to a document of particular importance, to attest to its authenticity and, as a consequence, its authority. Over time, the term began to be used first to indicate the seal, then the document itself, so that nowadays it is used for all papal documents of special importance that bear, or at least traditionally would have borne, the Pontiff’s seal.
The bull for the indiction of a jubilee, for instance in the case of an extraordinary Holy Year, aside from indicating its time, with the opening and closing dates and the main ways in which it will be implemented, constitutes the fundamental document for recognising the spirit in which it is announced, and the intentions and the outcomes hoped for by the Pontiff, who invokes it for the Church.
In the case of the last two extraordinary Holy Years, 1933 and 1983, the Bull of Indiction was published on the occasion of the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord. For the next extraordinary Holy Year, the choice of the occasion on which the publication of the Bull will take place clearly demonstrates the Holy Father’s particular attention to the theme of Mercy.
pope francis bulla,2015.
https://www.google.hr/search?q=pope+francis+bulla,2015.&client=opera&hs=wQ6&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=pagpVaX7L4jTaNz0gNAH&ved=0CDMQsAQ&biw=1745&bih=857
Pope to formally proclaim holy year in front of basilica's Holy Door
http://ncronline.org/news/vatican/pope-formally-proclaim-holy-year-front-basilicas-holy-door