This claim has been circulating on social media in different forms (and with slightly different details) this week as the festive season draws near. A variety of posts on X, for instance, garnered millions of views and include lengthy follow-up posts with conspiracies and theories.
Broadly, the claim is that the Pope plans to open 5 “sacred portals” on Christmas Eve as part of an ancient ritual – which some posts claim is a historical first.
In attempting to trace the origin of this claim, we found an article by the New York Post from which the social media posts and subsequent tabloid news articles seem to stem. The article was posted on 9 December and, contrary to its headline, does provide context about the “sacred portals” being part of Catholic tradition.
According to the article, the “sacred portals” refer to designated holy doors that are symbolically opened as part of the Catholic Church’s Jubilee year, which has been celebrated once every 25 years since the 1300s and will take place in 2025. The doors are only opened during Jubilee years and are bricked over afterwards. Walking through these holy doors is considered an important opportunity for pilgrims to the Vatican during the Jubilee year.
However, while the article appears to be fairly accurate, it directly contradicts its own widely shared headline. For one, the Pope will only open one door on Christmas Eve, which is when Jubilee 2025 official begins. The other doors will be opened on separate days between Christmas Eve and 5th January 2025.
Furthermore, the ritual of opening holy doors is certainly not a new tradition, having been done since 1423. However, what is new is that one of the doors is located in a prison – something that has not been done before as the holy doors are typically located in basilicas (church buildings recognised by the pope). This door will be opened on 26 December rather than on Christmas Eve.
Finally, while the use of the term “sacred portal” is technically accurate with full context, the lack of clarification that the portals in question are actually physical doors adds to the sense of confusion evoked by the article headline.
The announcement about the festivities and rituals planned for Jubilee 2025 were first made as early as May 9 this year by the Pope himself and was reported on by various Catholic news platforms without being noticed by any tabloids. One article from August, for instance, managed to convey similar content as the New York Post article without a misleading headline.
It appears that the New York Post article sparked multiple claim posts which were re-shared without vital context and information – instead using more eye-catching terms like “scared portal” and “ancient ritual” from the headline to go viral. This lack of context (particularly amongst users who might not be familiar with Catholic traditions) caused speculation and misinformation to gain traction.
Therefore, although holy doors are slated to be opened by the Pope in the coming weeks, we give the claim as it appears in the New York Post and social media claims a rating of false. Five sacred portals will not be opened on Christmas Eve, nor is the ritual itself a new occurrence despite the practice technically being “ancient.”
This claim is a particularly egregious example of how one single misleading headline can be replicated and quickly spread despite the same article providing accurate information in its actual main text.
There is an observable pattern of other tabloid platforms picking up the story rapidly – with very similar articles popping up on the same day or one day after – followed by social media users on TikTok and X several days later, all with the same misleading and incorrect headline. Being conscious of which news platforms we use as a source is therefore extremely important – as is cross-checking with more specialised sources (for example in this case, Catholic news sites or even dedicated Wikipedia articles which exist for both the Jubilee and the Holy Doors).
