Tuguegarao Archbishop Sergio L. Utleg pushes wide open the “Porta Sancta” or the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Metropolitan Cathedral in Cagayan’s capital city to officially inaugurate the Jubilee Year of Mercy in his archdiocese. (Photo: Maria Tan)
TUGUEGARAO City, Cagayan, Dec. 13, 2015 – Tuguegarao Archbishop Sergio L. Utleg on Saturday, Dec. 12, urged Catholics in Cagayan to allow the Lord to transform them by making the most out of the ongoing Jubilee Year of Mercy.
“Catholics must enter that Jubilee Door … Once we are inside, we transform ourselves in a way that God wants us to be transformed,” the prelate explained in his homily.
Repeating what Pope Francis had done at the Vatican days earlier, Utleg ceremoniously signaled the official start of the Jubilee in his archdiocese by opening the Holy Door at the St. Peter’s Metropolitan Cathedral in Tuguegarao City.
Extraordinary year
By passing through the sacred portal, the Holy Father announced that Catholic pilgrims can hope to gain plenary indulgence for the duration of the extraordinary year.
According to the Catechism (CCC 1471), this means that the temporal punishment due to sins sinners have to pay for in purgatory may be remitted provided they have already received forgiveness for these through confession and have performed other pious acts.
Following the opening of the Holy Door, the Cagayan faithful were treated to a free Christmas concert by Coro de San Jacinto together with the University of Santo Tomás (UST) Symphony Orchestra. (Raymond A. Sebastián / CBCP News with reports from Maria Tan)
