To mark the Jubilee of Mercy initiated by Pope Francis, at 11am on Sunday 20 December next Archbishop Diarmuid Martin will open a Door of Mercy at St. Mary’s Pro-Cathedral, Marlborough Street, Dublin.

The door chosen by Archbishop Martin [an entrance to the left of the main door on Marlborough Street] leads into an area of the Pro-Cathedral that has two confessionals, a statue memorial to Venerable Matt Talbot, whose life was healed from addiction when he encountered God’s mercy.

The Door chosen also looks to the altar of St Laurence O’Toole, patron of the Archdiocese, celebrated as a man of mercy.

Holy Doors of Mercy will also be opened at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Sean Mc Dermott Street, Dublin, where the remains of Venerable Matt Talbot lie; the Church of St. Francis Xavier in Gardiner Street, which holds the Cross of Venerable John Sullivan; the Parish Church of Sts. Peter and Mary in Arklow; and also at the House of Mercy in Baggot Street, established in 1827 by Catherine Mc Auley, foundress of the Sisters of Mercy.

It is Pope Francis’ desire that it becomes a “Door of Mercy through which anyone who enters will experience the love of God who consoles, pardons and instils hope.”

When Pope Francis opened the Holy Door in St Peter’s Basilica on the feast of the Immaculate Conception, he said: “To pass through the Holy Door means to rediscover the infinite mercy of the Father who welcomes everyone and goes out personally to encounter each of them.”