10 things to know about Jubilee 2025:
1. History and Frequency of Jubilee Year: A jubilee year, also known as a “holy year,” is a special year in the life of the church currently celebrated every 25 years. The most recent ordinary jubilee was in 2000, with Pope Francis calling for an Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy in 2015-2016. Jubilee years have been held on regular intervals in the Catholic church since 1300, 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, especially the poor, and with all of creation, and involved the forgiveness of debts, the return of misappropriated land, and a fallow period for the fields.”
Think about: We celebrate jubilees for almost everything—buildings, dioceses, churches, even streets. Sometimes, these jubilees occur every ten years, far removed from the 50-year interval of the Biblical Jubilee. Our jubilees are often vibrant and celebratory, yet they seem disconnected from their deeper purpose—engaging with the poor and creation. Are we truly celebrating jubilees in the spirit of their Biblical origins? Perhaps it’s time to reflect on whether our Jubilee celebrations in parishes, religious institutes, and families need a profound renewal—or even reconsideration altogether.!
2.Holy Doors. Jubilee 2025 opens Christmas Eve, Dec. 24, at 7 p.m., with the rite of the opening of the Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican immediately before Pope Francis celebrates midnight Mass. Holy Doors will also be opened at Rome’s three other major basilicas: St. John Lateran on Dec. 29, St. Mary Major on Jan. 1, and St. Paul’s Outside the Walls on Jan. 5.
A Holy Door will also be opened Dec. 26 at Rebibbia Prison, a Roman prison Pope Francis has visited twice before to celebrate Mass and wash inmates’ feet on Holy Thursday.
The doors represent the passage to salvation Jesus opened to humanity. In 1423, Pope Martin V opened the Holy Door in the Basilica of St. John Lateran — the Diocese of Rome’s cathedral — for the first time for a jubilee. For the Holy Year of 1500, Pope Alexander VI opened Holy Doors at Rome’s four main basilicas. At the end of a holy year, the Holy Doors are formally closed and then bricked over by masons.
Think about: There are many types of doors in our lives. The doors to our homes are often secured with dogs or watchmen or CCTV cameras—but are they open to strangers or neighbours? More importantly, how many doors of our hearts remain open to Jesus? And when was the last time we entered the door of a church outside of Christmas or Sunday services?
3. The theme is HOPE: The theme of the Holy Year is “Pilgrims of Hope.” The papal bull, issued May 9, that introduced the coming Jubilee Year is titled “Spes Non Confundit,” or “Hope does not disappoint,” drawn from Romans 5:5. “Everyone knows what it is to hope,” Pope Francis wrote. “In the heart of each person, hope dwells as the desire and expectation of good things to come, despite our not knowing what the future may bring.
“Even so, uncertainty about the future may at times give rise to conflicting feelings, ranging from confident trust to apprehensiveness, from serenity to anxiety, from firm conviction to hesitation and doubt,” he continued. “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 also hopes the year draws Catholics toward patience, which he described in “Spes Non Confundit” as a “virtue closely linked to hope,” yet can feel elusive in “our fastpaced world, we are used to wanting everything now.”
Think about: Hope is perhaps the least discussed and reflected upon among the three great virtues of faith, hope, and love. As the Jubilee year passes, this virtue risks fading from our minds, often seeming like the most overlooked or unwanted aspect of Christian life. Yet, we must remember: without hope, there is no life!
4. Jubilee Indulgence: Drawing on their Jewish roots, jubilee years emphasize the sacrament of reconciliation and restoring relationships with God. They also provide an opportunity for a special jubilee indulgence, which can remove the residual effects of sin through the grace of Christ.
Think about: No indulgence is automatically granted; it requires the sacraments of confession and Holy Communion, along with fulfilling the specific conditions of the indulgence. With a pure heart, you can receive a plenary indulgence daily, even outside a Jubilee year, through acts such as praying the Rosary, making the Stations of the Cross, or devoutly reading Scripture for at least 30 minutes.
5. Expressions of Hope: The year calls Christians to action. Pope Francis called for “signs of hope” in the Jubilee Year, including the desire for peace in the world, openness to life and responsible parenthood, and closeness to prisoners, the poor, the sick, the young, the elderly, migrants and people “in difficult situations.” Pope Francis has called on affluent counties to forgive the debts of countries that would never be able to repay them, and address “ecological debt,” which he described as “connected to commercial imbalances with effects on the environment and the disproportionate use of natural resources by certain countries over long periods of time.”
Think about: Hope can be nurtured within your family and shared with others. A simple smile can ignite hope in someone who feels lonely, while kind words like 'please,' 'sorry,' and 'thank you' are powerful gestures that can be practiced anytime, anywhere, to spread hope and kindness.
6. Pilgrimage: Expect an influx of pilgrims in the Eternal City. Italy’s National Tourist Research Institute projects 35 million visitors in 2025, nearly triple of its 13 million visitors in 2023. Pilgrimage is a “fundamental” part of jubilee events, Pope Francis said in “Spes Non Confundit.” “Setting out on a journey is traditionally associated with our human quest for meaning in life. A pilgrimage on foot is a great aid for rediscovering the value of silence, effort and simplicity of life,” he wrote.
He noted that jubilee pilgrims are likely to visit Rome’s Christian catacombs and its seven pilgrim churches — the basilicas of St. Peter, St. Mary Major, St. John Lateran, St. Paul Outside the Walls, St. Lawrence, Holy Cross and St. Sebastian — destinations St. Philip Neri popularized in the 16th century with a 15-mile walk. Twelve other Roman churches, including the Sanctuary of Divine Love in southeast Rome, are designated “jubilee churches” intended as gathering spots for pilgrims during the jubilee.
Experts in the travel and hospitality industries suggest anyone heading to Rome in 2025 — pilgrim or not — book accommodations, tickets and tours in advance. Visitors may also be expected to pay an increased tourist tax, depending on their type of accommodations.
Think about: Most of us may not have the opportunity to make a pilgrimage to Rome, but a pilgrimage doesn’t always mean traveling to places like Velankanni or Bandel. Your pilgrimage can be as simple as visiting a neighbourhood church. Even if it’s a church of another Catholic rite, the experience can be deeply meaningful. Take the time to visit, learn about its patron saint, and pray for your family and community.
7. Major Events in Rome: Major events are happening in Rome, including jubilee gatherings with 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) and even marching bands (May 10-11). 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.
Expect some events to highlight the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, from which Christians received the Nicene Creed. This year, despite different liturgical calendars, the dates for celebrating Easter align in the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church, leading some, including Pope Francis, to call for a “decisive step forward towards unity around a common date for Easter,” which was discussed in 325 at the Council of Nicaea.
Think about: Special groups are all around us—the sick, the homeless, construction workers, scavengers, Dalits, domestic workers, and many more. Why not plan a celebration with them during this Jubilee year? As we commemorate the 1,700th anniversary of the Nicene Creed, take a moment to reflect: What is your creed? What is the foundation of your belief system? Create a list of the beliefs and practices that define your Catholic faith. Reflect on what you hold dear and how you live it out in your daily life.
8. Renovations and Welcoming Environment. Expect Rome to sparkle and shine. Many famous sites and artworks in Rome and at the Vatican have been cleaned or restored for the jubilee, much to the chagrin of many tourists in 2024, who found major monuments obscured by fencing, scaffolding and tarps. Many of those projects are expected to be completed with a fresh-face reveal in time for the jubilee. In October, St. Peter’s Basilica revealed its newly restored baldacchino, designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini in the 1600s, after 10 months of work. Also receiving cleaning or restoration are Michelangelo’s Pietà, Bernini’s Fountain of the Four Rivers in Piazza Navona, and Bernini’s angels on the Ponte Sant’Angelo.
Think about: The first place to prepare for the Jubilee is in each one's heart. Renovation begins there. Keep your heart clean and tidy. Similarly, ensure your home is neat and orderly—no matter how modest and poor it may be, it can still be tidy. Keep a warm heart, ready to smile and welcome anyone who visits you. It’s not only your home that should be tidy, but also the public spaces near your home. This is an area where many of us, as Indians, often fall short in our practice.
9. Diocesan Celebrations. While many jubilee events will take place in Rome and at the Vatican, it’s a celebration for the whole church. On Dec. 29, diocesan bishops are expected to open the Holy Year locally with Masses at their cathedrals and co-cathedrals. Catholics are encouraged to make pilgrimages to their cathedral during the year, and should watch diocesan communications for local events. While Pope Francis encouraged bishops to designate Holy Doors for their own cathedrals during the Jubilee Year of Mercy in 2015, there will only be Holy Doors at the Vatican and in Rome this year.
Think about: Have you seen your diocese' Jubilee year plan? Try to participate in at least a few of the diocesan events. Make it a point to visit the Cathedral at least once this year and consider making a pilgrimage to some of the churches listed in the diocesan Jubilee calendar. But before that, visit another domestic church (another family) during the year. Invite a poor family to your home, your domestic church, and share a meal with them.
10. Closing and beginning. The Jubilee Year concludes with the closing of the Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica Jan. 6, 2026, on the feast of the Epiphany. However, the Holy Doors at Rome’s other major basilicas will close Dec. 28, 2025, the same day dioceses are to end local celebrations of the Holy Year.
The Jubilee Year also looks ahead to 2033, when the church will mark the 2,000th anniversary of Jesus’ passion, death and resurrection, which Pope Francis called “another fundamental celebration for all Christians.
Think about. Jubilees come and go, but it is we who need to be renewed and transformed. Ensure that there is at least a small change in your life; otherwise, these celebrations lose their true meaning. Let us hope with certainty!
(Courtesy: America, The Jesuit Review, 10 December 2024 With reflections added by Fr. Gilbert Choondal SDB)
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