Jubilee 2025
Pilgrims of Hope
What is a Jubilee Year?
- A Holy Year of the forgiveness of sin, conversion and joyful celebration.
- The word “jubilee” comes from the Hebrew word yobel, which refers to the ram’s horn used to announce a jubilee in the Old Testament.
Old Testament origins
God told Moses that every fiftieth year was to be set aside for the return of absent members to their households, the restoration of land to its owners, the release of Hebrew slaves and the forgiveness of debts.
This fiftieth year you shall make sacred by proclaiming liberty in the land for all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, when every one of you shall return to his own property, every one to his own family estate. (Lev. 25:10)
Like the sabbath, which took place on the seventh day of each week, the jubilee was a time for the Israelites to re-establish a proper relationship with God and with one another.
Tradition continues in Christianity
- Pope Boniface VIII proclaimed the first Christian jubilee in A.D. 1300, granting the full remission of sin for those who confessed their sins and made a pilgrimage to St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.
- The Church first celebrated jubilee years every 100 years. This was eventually shortened to every 50 years and then every 25 years.
Recent Jubilee years
1950: During this Holy Year of 1950, Pope Pius XII proclaimed the dogma of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven.
1975: This Holy Year of reconciliation was proclaimed by Pope Paul VI.
1983: Pope John Paul II proclaimed a special jubilee year in 1983 to celebrate the 1,950th anniversary of the death and resurrection of Jesus.
2000: Pope John Paul II proclaimed the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000.
2015: Pope Francis declared an extraordinary jubilee for the 50th anniversary of the end of the Second Vatican Council. The jubilee was dedicated to mercy.
Jubilee 2025: Pilgrims of Hope
Jubilee 2025 was proclaimed by Pope Francis in the Papal Bull Spes Non Confundit (“Hope does not disappoint”).
“The coming Jubilee will thus be a Holy Year marked by the hope that does not fade, our hope in God. May it help us to recover the confident trust that 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.” (Pope Francis, Spes Non Confundit 25)
The jubilee will begin in Rome on the vigil of the Lord’s Nativity on Dec. 24, 2024 with the opening of the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica, and in local dioceses on Holy Family Sunday on Dec. 29. It will conclude in local dioceses the following Holy Family Sunday on Dec. 28, 2025, and in Rome on the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord, Jan. 6, 2026, with the closing of the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica.
Hallmarks of the Jubilee
Jubilee Indulgence: Special graces for the forgiveness of sins are made available during the Jubilee Year. The faithful may obtain a plenary indulgence – remission of all temporal punishment (time in Purgatory) for sin– by meeting the normal conditions (confession, Holy Communion, prayer for the pope’s intentions, and no attachment to sin) and by participating in one of the following activities:
- Pilgrimages: The four major basilicas in Rome are the main pilgrimage destinations, but pilgrims may also go to the Holy Land, their diocesan cathedral or other officially designated locations.
- Pious visits to sacred places: At these locations, the faithful are to engage in Eucharistic adoration and meditation, among other spiritual practices.
- Works of mercy and penance: The faithful are to perform the spiritual or corporal works of mercy or carry out works of penance, such as abstaining from meat on Fridays.
Holy Doors: The pope opens the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica at the beginning of each jubilee year. Passing through the holy doors symbolizes the pilgrim’s journey of conversion.
Papal Basilicas: The pope will open the Holy Doors of the four main churches (called “major basilicas”) in Rome: St. Peter’s Basilica, St. John Lateran, St. Mary Major, and St. Paul Outside the Walls.
How to participate in Jubilee 2025
Make a pilgrimage to Rome. Some dioceses, parishes and other organizations will be coordinating pilgrimages, but you may also go on your own.
Participate in a local celebration of the jubilee. Some dioceses, parishes and other organizations will coordinate local celebrations for those unable to travel to Rome.
Obtain the Jubilee Indulgence through one of the other means (works of mercy and penance, making a pilgrimage to your cathedral, etc.).
Serve as a jubilee volunteer. Applications are available online.
Pray for the pope, the Church and all who take part in the jubilee.
‘Jubilee Passport: Pilgrims of Hope’ is a unique pilgrimage activity for all ages
In the papal bull announcing the 2025 Jubilee Year, Pope Francis asks the faithful to find “suitable ways for the Holy Year to be planned and celebrated with deep faith, lively hope and active charity.”
To assist in this journey, the Diocese of St. Cloud presents the “Jubilee Passport: Pilgrims of Hope” project, sponsored by Catholic United Financial. This activity can be completed individually, as a family or as a group.
Just as the jubilee logo features “four stylized figures, representing all of humanity, coming from the four corners of the earth,” people are encouraged to pilgrimage across the diocese serving as beacons of hope ignited by prayers and actions.
By participating in these holy pilgrimages and practices, participants may be eligible to receive plenary indulgences (Read the bishop’s decree below to learn more about plenary indulgences).
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About the Jubilee logo
The logo shows four stylized figures, representing all of humanity, coming from the four corners of the earth. They embrace each other to indicate the solidarity and fraternity which should unite all peoples. The figure at the front is holding onto the cross. It is not only the sign of the faith which this lead figure embraces, but also of hope, which can never be abandoned, because we are always in need of hope, especially in our moments of greatest need. There are the rough waves under the figures, symbolizing the fact that life’s pilgrimage does not always go smoothly in calm waters. Often the circumstances of daily life and events in the wider world require a greater call to hope. That’s why we should pay special attention to the lower part of the cross which has been elongated and turned into the shape of an anchor which is let down into the waves.
The anchor is well known as a symbol of hope. In maritime jargon the ‘anchor of hope’ refers to the reserve anchor used by vessels involved in emergency maneuvers to stabilize the ship during storms. It is worth noting that the image illustrates the pilgrim’s journey not as an individual undertaking, but rather as something communal, marked by an increasing dynamism leading one ever closer to the cross. The cross in the logo is by no means static, but it is also dynamic. It bends down towards humanity, not leaving human beings alone, but stretching out to them to offer the certainty of its presence and the security of hope. At the bottom of the logo is the motto of the 2025 Jubilee Year: Pilgrims of Hope, represented in green letters.
