The Holy Father has decided that 2025 will be a year of Jubilee, something which happens every 25 years.
In the Catholic Church, the concept of Jubilee or ‘Holy Year’ was used to declare special years for forgiveness and reconciliation.
Various other Popes changed the length of the interval between the observances. But Pope Saint Paul II set the present 25-year interval in the 1500s. So Holy Years are ‘ordinary’ when they occur at regular intervals (25 years in these modern times) and ‘extraordinary’ when they are proclaimed for a very special reason.
More recently a Great Jubilee was declared in 2000 by Pope Saint John Paul II to celebrate the new millennium. That Jubilee year brought the total number of universal Jubilee years to 28 that so far had been celebrated by the Church.
The theme for 2025 is ‘Pilgrims of Hope’, and it will be a year of hope for a world suffering the impacts of war, the ongoing effects of COVID-19 pandemic, and a climate crisis.
The Jubilee of Hope will begin in December 2024 with Pope Francis opening the ‘holy door’ in St. Peter’s Basilica, offering the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics the possibility of obtaining a plenary indulgence and a year of special graces. The Jubilee of Hope will end on the feast of the Epiphany in 2026.
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference has produced a number of Jubilee resources for parishes: Living the Jubilee in our churches – Catholic Bishops’ Conference
For more on the Jubilee go to: Unpacking the Jubilee – Catholic Bishops’ Conference
For more information on the Vatican’s Jubilee Year go to: www.giubileo-2025.it/en
Pilgrims of hope
Pilgrimage walks for the Jubilee Year, including one in Brentwood Diocese, can be found here: https://www.pilgrimways.org.uk/the-catholic-shrines-of-england—wales
The official prayer of His Holiness Pope Francis for the Holy Year.
This can be found in other languages on the website of the Jubilee. The Jubilee is an experience of faith and a profound encounter with the Lord.
Prayer
Father in heaven,
may the faith you have given us
in your son, Jesus Christ, our brother,
and the flame of charity enkindled
in our hearts by the Holy Spirit,
reawaken in us the blessed hope
for the coming of your Kingdom.
May your grace transform us
into tireless cultivators of the seeds of the Gospel.
May those seeds transform from within both humanity and the whole cosmos
in the sure expectation
of a new heaven and a new earth,
when, with the powers of Evil vanquished,
your glory will shine eternally.
May the grace of the Jubilee
reawaken in us, Pilgrims of Hope,
a yearning for the treasures of heaven.
May that same grace spread
the joy and peace of our Redeemer
throughout the earth.
To you our God, eternally blessed,
be glory and praise for ever.
Amen
Resources from Alive Publishing
Alive Publishing, which produces Bible Alive and Walk with Me, has put together a number of Jubilee resources for parishioners. The Jubilee Companion Booklet has been produced in collaboration with the Bishops’ Conference.
Walk with Me is a seasonal booklet done in collaboration with Cardinal Vincent, together with a Calendar and booklets for children.
A Pocketful of Prayers is a booklet of prayers in the Catholic tradition put together by Mgr Michael Sharkey, a priest of the Archdiocese of Birmingham.
Growing in Faith is a new book published posthumously by Mgr Paul Watson, also a priest of the Archdiocese of Birmingham and former rector of Maryvale. It is a panoramic view of salvation history.
The publisher has also produced a Liturgical Diary and Wall Calendar with the theme of Jubilee hope.
A Pocketful of Prayer Press Release
Growing In Faith Press Release v4