Pope Francis stated in his February 2022 letter announcing the Jubilee 2025: "We must fan the flame of hope that has been given us, and help everyone to gain new strength and certainty by looking to the future with an open spirit, a trusting heart and far-sighted vision. The forthcoming Jubilee can contribute greatly to restoring a climate of hope and trust as a prelude to the renewal and rebirth that we so urgently desire..." Pope Francis has asked that the year 2024 be dedicated to a "great symphony of prayer" as the Church prepares for the Jubilee of 2025.
In the official ceremony promulgating the bull, whose title translates as “Hope does not disappoint,” Francis gave copies to bishops representing the four major basilicas of Rome as part of a symbolic dissemination of the bull at a ceremony in front of the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica.
The Pope appealed especially for prisoners, recalling the tradition of offering amnesty or pardons during Jubilees, and said he hopes to personally open a Holy Door in a prison, “as a sign inviting prisoners to look to the future with hope and a renewed sense of confidence.” And he called for prisoners to be treated in accord with their rights and dignity, while once again pleading for the abolition of the death penalty.
Jubilee 2025 - Pilgrims of Hope
Visit the Vatican Jubilee 2025 Website: Iubilaeum 2025
As the Universal Church looks toward the Jubilee Year 2025, the USCCB is thrilled to support the Holy Father in this "event of great spiritual, ecclesial, and social significance in the life of the Church."
Pope Francis stated in his February 2022 letter announcing the Jubilee 2025: "We must fan the flame of hope that has been given us, and help everyone to gain new strength and certainty by looking to the future with an open spirit, a trusting heart and far-sighted vision. The forthcoming Jubilee can contribute greatly to restoring a climate of hope and trust as a prelude to the renewal and rebirth that we so urgently desire..."
The Jubilee Year will offer the faithful opportunities to participate in various jubilee events at the Vatican and in their own dioceses. The great tradition of opening the Holy Door will begin when Pope Francis opens the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica on December 24, 2024. This is usually the first door opened to signal the start of the Jubilee Year. A Cathedral or popular Sanctuary of each diocese will also designate or open its Holy Door to allow the entry of pilgrims. The jubilee years also traditionally offer opportunities for reconciliation, indulgences, and other events intended to strengthen and revive faith.
The Jubilee Year was instituted in 1300 and normally held every 25 years, a Jubilee Year is, in the Vatican’s words, “a year of forgiveness of sins and also the punishment due to sin, it is a year of reconciliation between adversaries, of conversion and receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and consequently of solidarity, hope, justice, commitment to serve God with joy and in peace with our brothers and sisters.”
A Jubilee usually lasts a year and a few days: it begins just before the Christian Christmas and ends the Epiphany of the following year.
The most well-known rite is the opening of the Holy Door. This gate is open only during the jubilee year and the 4 main ones are the major basilicas of Rome: St. Peter, Archbasilica of St John Lateran, St. Paul Outside the Walls and St Mary Major. The first to be opened is St. Peter's Basilica, the other doors are opened in the following days and remain open until the end of the Jubilee when they are once again walled up.
The practice of a jubilee year is roots in the ancient Jewish tradition found in the Old Testament ( Leviticus 25). The jubilee year was called every fifty years and was a time for forgiveness. It stood as a reminder of God's providence and mercy. The dedication of a year for this emphasis provided the community with a time to come back into right relationship with one another and with God. As the practice of the jubilee year was adopted into the Catholic Church, these themes of mercy, forgiveness, and solidarity continued.
The Lord has given freedom
To all who just believe Him
Be no longer enslaved
Come now! Return to Jesus
Receive the Life that frees us!
Call on Him and be saved
This is the year of jubilee!
Proclaim our liberty in Him!
Throughout the land we sound out
The slaves have been returned to Him
Released from toil, anxiety, and sin!
This is the year of jubilee!- Heidi Johnsen
Previously, Pope Francis called the Jubilee of Mercy from December 8, 2015 – November 20, 2016, as an Extraordinary Jubilee. This designation as an "Extraordinary Jubilee" sets it apart from the ordinary cycle of jubilees, or holy years, which are called every 25 years in the Catholic Church. By calling for a holy year outside of the normal cycle, a particular event or theme is emphasized. For example, Pope Francis called this particular Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy to direct our attention and actions "on mercy so that we may become a more effective sign of the Father's actions in our lives . . . a time when the witness of believers might grow stronger and more effective" (MV, 3).
Pope Francis himself addressed the question of why the Jubilee of Mercy,
In his homily for First Vespers for Divine Mercy Sunday.
"Here, then, is the reason for the Jubilee: because this is the time for mercy. It is the favorable time to heal wounds, a time not to be weary of meeting all those who are waiting to see and to touch with their hands the signs of the closeness of God, a time to offer everyone, everyone, the way of forgiveness and reconciliation. May the Mother of God open our eyes, so that we may comprehend the task to which we have been called; and may she obtain for us the grace to experience this Jubilee of Mercy as faithful and fruitful witnesses of Christ."
In Spes non confundit Pope Francis insisted that Christian hope, rooted in Christ’s death and resurrection for each human person, points to our final destiny, eternal happiness with God in heaven. We are saved by God’s mercy, seen especially in the gift of indulgences: While Confession washes away our sins, indulgences – including the Jubilee Indulgence – remove the effects of sins forgiven in the Sacrament. In the Bull of Indiction, the Pope notes that the specific conditions for receiving the indulgence will be published soon.
The Holy Father concludes the Bull with a final note of hope, praying that “the coming Jubilee will be a Holy Year marked by the hope that does not fade, our hope in God”; and that it might help us recover “the confident trust we require in the Church and in society, in our interpersonal relationships, in international relations, and in our task of promoting the dignity of all persons and respect for God’s gift of creation.”
“Let us even now be drawn to this hope!”
Spes non confundit ends with Pope Francis exclaiming, “Let us even now be drawn to this hope!” He calls on Christians to live a life in keeping with their faith, as a witness and an invitation to all to “hope in the Lord.”
“May the power of hope fill our days,” the Pope says, “as we await with confidence the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and glory, now and forever
The Holy Father concludes the Bull with a final note of hope, praying that “the coming Jubilee will be a Holy Year marked by the hope that does not fade, our hope in God”; and that it might help us recover “the confident trust we require in the Church and in society, in our interpersonal relationships, in international relations, and in our task of promoting the dignity of all persons and respect for God’s gift of creation.”
“Let us even now be drawn to this hope!”
Spes non confundit ends with Pope Francis exclaiming, “Let us even now be drawn to this hope!” He calls on Christians to live a life in keeping with their faith, as a witness and an invitation to all to “hope in the Lord.”
“May the power of hope fill our days,” the Pope says, “as we await with confidence the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and glory, now and forever
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