A YEAR OF HOPE

2025  is a JUBILEE YEAR- which occurs every 25 years.  The theme this time is HOPE. The last ordinary holy year, the Great Jubilee Year of 2000, which took place under St. John Paul II, was one of the biggest events in the history of mankind.  Pope Francis wants this Jubilee Year to be lived as a “year of hope,”  symbolic in times when wars across the world seem to be multiplying.

From the Letter of the Holy Father Francis to the Most reverend Rino Fisichella, President of the pontifical Council for the New Evangelization for the Jubilee 2025:

“The Jubilee has always been an event of great spiritual, ecclesial, and social significance in the life of the Church. Ever since 1300, when Boniface VIII instituted the first Holy Year – initially celebrated every hundred years, then, following its biblical precedent, every fifty years, and finally every twenty-five years – God’s holy and faithful people have experienced this celebration as a special gift of grace, characterized by the forgiveness of sins and in particular by the indulgence, which is a full expression of the mercy of God. The faithful, frequently at the conclusion of a lengthy pilgrimage, draw from the spiritual treasury of the Church by passing through the Holy Door and venerating the relics of the Apostles Peter and Paul preserved in Roman basilicas. Down the centuries, millions upon millions of pilgrims have journeyed to these sacred places, bearing living witness to the faith professed in every age.”

Jubilees were started in 1300 by Pope Boniface VIII,  but they trace their roots to the Jewish tradition of marking a jubilee year every 50 years.  According to the Vatican website for the jubilee, these years in Jewish history were “intended to be marked as a time to re-establish a proper relationship with God, with one another, and with all of creation, and involved the forgiveness of debts, the return of misappropriated land, and a fallow period for the fields.”

Jubilees are traditionally held every 25 years, with occasional extraordinary Jubilees for special causes. Pope Francis called for an Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy in 2015-2016. Jubilees include pilgrimages to Rome, indulgences for sins, and reflections on our spiritual life and forgiveness, leading us closer to Christ.

The 2025 Jubilee, with its theme of reconciliation and unity, comes at a time when the world is striving to recover from economic challenges, environmental crises, and division in society, all of which we see, not only in third world countries, but in wealthier countries, such as the USA. The Jubilee is expecting over 25 million visitors to Rome.

Jubilee 2025 opened Christmas Eve with the rite of the opening of the Holy Doors at St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican immediately before Pope Francis celebrated midnight Mass. Holy Doors were also opened at Rome’s three other major basilicas: St. John Lateran on Dec. 29, St. Mary Major on Jan. 1, and will be opened at the Benedictine St. Paul’s Outside the Walls on Jan. 5. The opening of the doors  represent the passage to salvation. 

Major events in Rome, include special liturgies, speakers and papal audiences to celebrate different groups within the Church. The first is the Jubilee of the World of Communications Jan. 24-26, followed by the Jubilee of the Armed Forces, Police and Security Personnel Feb. 8-9. The jubilee also includes gatherings for artists (Feb. 15-18), deacons (Feb. 21-23). Some of these special gatherings will coincide with major canonizations, such as the canonization of Blessed Carlo Acutis during the Jubilee of Teenagers April 25-27, and the canonization of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati during the Jubilee of Young People July 28-Aug. 3.

“Often we come across people who are discouraged, pessimistic and cynical about the future, as if nothing could possibly bring them happiness. For all of us, may the Jubilee be an opportunity to be renewed in hope. God’s word helps us find reasons for that hope.” (Pope Francis)