The doors of eight Bohol churches designated by the bishops of the two dioceses in Bohol as Holy Doors of Mercy were closed on Sunday, November 13, 2016, by their respective bishops and parish priests formally ending the Jubilee Year of Mercy.

Bishop Leonardo Medroso of the Diocese of Tagbilaran designated seven churches as Doors of Mercy for his diocese and Bishop Daniel Patrick Parcon of the Diocese of Talibon opened the doors of two churches in the diocese.

The symbolic closing of the “Porta Sancta” marked the end of almost a year of special prayers and gatherings that earned a  “plenary indulgence” meaning a forgiveness of sins for those who passed the open doors of chosen jubilee churches worldwide.

The closing of the doors of The Most Holy Trinity Cathedral of the Diocese of Talibon is set on Thursday, November 24, 2016, and will coincide with the 54th birthday of Most Reverend Daniel Patrick Yee Parcon, Bishop of Talibon.

But Pope Francis in his homily on Sunday during a morning mass at St. Peter’s Square exhorted the faithful that “people should never close the doors of reconciliation and pardon.”

Pope Francis said that “Even if the Holy Door closes, the true door of mercy, which is the heart of Christ, always remains open for us,” reminding Christians that “God has no memory of sin, but only of us, of each of us, we who are his beloved children.”

Seven churches of the Diocese of Tagbilaran and two from the Diocese of Talibon were part of more than 10,000 churches worldwide that opened a Door of Mercy in their diocese where anyone who enters “will experience the love of God who consoles, pardons and instills hope.”

For the Diocese of Tagbilaran, St. Joseph the Worker Cathedral in Tagbilaran City, Sta, Monica Parish Church, Alburquerque, St. Peter the Apostle Church, Loboc, Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Church, Lila, Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish Church, Balilihan, St. Vincent Ferrer, Calape, and Sto. Nino Parish Church, Valencia opened their doors during the Jubilee Year of Mercy.

Two churches belonging to the Diocese of Talibon – The Most Holy Trinity Cathedral in Talibon and St. Michael the Archangel in Jagna provided the rare opportunity to their parishioners to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Doors.

Pope Francis declared the start of the Jubilee Year of Mercy on December 8, 2015 (the feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgen