STEUBENVILLE, OHIO— The Most Rev. Jeffrey Monforton, bishop of Steubenville, has designated Christ the King Chapel at Franciscan University of Steubenville as a site for one of two Holy Doors in the Diocese of Steubenville for the Jubilee Year of Mercy.

Bishop Monforton will open Franciscan University’s Holy Door—the main interior door of Christ the King Chapel—on Tuesday, December 8, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The public is invited to attend this rare ceremony, which begins at 2:00 p.m. with Mass in Finnegan Fieldhouse, followed by a solemn procession to Christ the King Chapel. Standing before the sealed Holy Door, Bishop Monforton will lead a short ritual that will include Scripture readings, prayers, blessing of the Holy Door with holy water, and unsealing it to usher in the Year of Mercy.

“Franciscan University is honored to be chosen as a Holy Door pilgrimage site for the Diocese of Steubenville,” said Father Sean O. Sheridan, TOR, president of Franciscan University of Steubenville. “Our thousands of annual campus visitors from the local community and across the country, along with our students, faculty, and staff will be able to enter more deeply into the Jubilee Year graces through the Holy Door.

“Holy Doors are rich in symbolism and designed to ignite and deepen our faith,” said Father Sheridan. “Pope Francis reminds us that Jesus is the Door we must pass through to enter into a ‘life of communion with God.’ And in declaring the Year of Mercy, the Holy Father called mercy ‘the bridge that connects God and man, opening our hearts to the hope of being loved forever despite our sinfulness.’”

The Holy Door, or porta sancta, has been used since the 15th century as a ritual expression of conversion. Pilgrims and penitents pass through it as a gesture of leaving the past behind and crossing the threshold from sin to grace, from slavery to freedom, and from darkness to light. Often these rituals are associated with prayer, pilgrimage, sacrifice, confession, and indulgences.

Throughout the Year of Mercy, passing through the Holy Door and fulfilling the usual conditions will allow pilgrims to receive a special plenary indulgence as often as once a day.

On December 12, the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Bishop Monforton will travel to Marietta, Ohio, to open the Holy Door at the Basilica of St. Mary of the Assumption.

Throughout the universal Church, Holy Doors will remain open until the Year of Mercy concludes on November 20, 2016, the Solemnity of Our Lord, Jesus Christ, King of the Universe.