basilicas to gain the Jubilee indulgence enter the basilicas through these special doors. Throughout most of the Jubilee year, long lines were queued up to enter the door. Pope John Paul II simplified the rite of opening considerably, compared to previous Jubilees. (See Holy door.) After a series of prayers and hymns, punctuated by African elephant tusks being blown, the Pope, clad in a purple cope, pushed on the doors as they were drawn open from inside by assistants. He then fell to his knees on the threshold of the Basilica and prayed, holding his silver Papal ferula. Pope John Paul II commissioned Patsy Ford Simms to compose the music for this celebration. The holy door in St. John Lateran was opened by the pope the following day, and that of St. Mary Major on January 1, 2000. Ecumenical Celebration at St. Paul's The fourth holy door, that of St. Paul Outside the Walls, was not opened until January 18, 2000, to launch the week of prayer for Christian Unity. For that celebration, the Pope had planned an ecumenical service, inviting leaders of all Christian religions to take part. Twenty-two Christian leaders accepted the invitation, along with a representative of the World Council of Churches, which represents 337 denominations. The opening of the door was carried out simultaneously by the Pope, Metropolitan Athanasias, representing the Ecumenical Patriarch, and George Carey, Archbishop of Canterbury. All three fell to their knees on the threshold of the Basilica, joined in prayer. The liturgy of the day included readings from the Bible, from the Lutheran martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer and from the Russian theologian Georges Florovsky. Prayer for Forgiveness for Sins of the Church One particularly rich ceremony of the Jubilee, dubbed the "Day of Forgiveness", came on March 12, 2000, the first Sunday of Lent. There the Pope begged forgiveness from God for the sins committed by members of the Church, and particularly sins committed in the name of the Church. Seven senior curial officials read special prayers asking for forgiveness in specific areas. The first, Benin's Cardinal Bernardin Gantin, then dean of the College of Cardinals, made a general confession of Christians' sins in the course of history. Joseph Ratzinger, cardinal prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, called for confession of faults for the use of "non-evangelical methods" in the service of faith, as for example, in the Inquisition.