God always leaves doors open, Pope reminds audience

November 18, 2015

”If the door of God’s mercy is always open, even so must be the doors of our churches, the love of our communities, our parishes, our institutions, our dioceses,” Pope Francis said at his regular weekly audience on November 18.

The Pope’s prepared remarks centered on the approaching Year of Mercy, but his address to the Wednesday audience—which he punctuated several times with extemporaneous comments—clearly applied as well to the debate over accepting refugees in Europe.

Looking forward to the December 8 opening of the Jubilee Year, the Pope said that God always leaves the door of mercy open, welcoming all those who seek entry. Christians should adopt the same attitude, he said—contrasting it with the approach in which “reinforced doors have become normal.”

“An inhospitable Church, like a family closed in on itself, mortifies the Gospel and makes the world arid,” the Pope continued. A door is rightly used for protection, he said, but should be open to those in need. “We ourselves are the guardians and servants of the Door of God, Who is Jesus,” he said.

The Pope reminded his audience that the Holy Family of Nazareth knew the sorrow of encountering doors closed to those in need. He rmarked that the October meeting Synod of Bishops encouraged families to open doors to Christ. “Jesus tells us that he stands knocking at our door, asking that we open it to Him,” he said.

 

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Further information:

• General audience: the Holy Door is the door of God's mercy (VIS)
• Pope Francis at Audience: Door to God's Mercy never closed (Vatican Radio)