Every 25 years, the Church rejoices. The pope opens the holy doors of the four major basilicas and bishops do the same in their dioceses so that, when crossing them, pilgrims receive special graces and indulgences from God, our Father. We call these celebrations “ordinary jubilees,” summoned by the popes through a papal bull, or public decree, in which Catholics are called to live the year of grace, paying attention to a special aspect of our faith.
The 2025 jubilee is the second proclaimed by Pope Francis; the extraordinary jubilee of 2015-16 was devoted to mercy, a theological and pastoral motif through his pontificate. The 2025 jubilee coincides with the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, from which arose the Nicene Creed, with which we proclaim our faith.
This jubilee year will begin on Dec. 24, 2024, when the pope opens the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica. Pope Francis has instructed that on Dec. 29, all bishops open the holy doors of their dioceses. The holy year will conclude on Jan. 6, 2026.
During the 2025 Jubilee Year, the Holy Father wants us to focus our attention on hope, which humankind seems often to have lost. This is what he has told us in his bull Spes non Confundit, “Hope does not disappoint,” with which he summons the Church to the celebration of the next holy year.
The celebration of jubilees has its roots in the Hebrew tradition of the yobel, a special time dedicated to forgiveness and reconciliation. Hence, every 25 years, countless indulgences are dispensed for those who prepare their hearts and make a pilgrimage to the Holy Door. This practice is very significant because it reminds us that “the Christian life is a journey calling for moments of greater intensity to encourage and sustain hope as the constant companion that guides our steps towards the goal of our encounter with the Lord Jesus” (Spes non Confundit, no. 5).
The jubilee is so important that Pope Francis wants us to prepare ourselves in ardent prayer in 2024. Thus, he declared this to be the Year of Prayer. The pope wants us to pray unceasingly to God in preparation for the jubilee in four very specific ways: adoration, praise and thanksgiving, intercession and supplication.
It is important that all of us, united as a Church, commit ourselves in prayer so we can celebrate the Jubilee of 2025 full of hope. The Vatican’s Dicastery for Evangelization has published the booklet “Teach Us to Pray,” a guide for living this Year of Prayer in parishes, religious communities, catechism groups, families and more. For example, it shows how families can pray the Lauds of the Liturgy of the Hours together every Sunday. You can download the booklet from www.iubilaeum2025.va.
Be passionate about our faith!
This article appeared in the August/September 2024 issue of Northwest Catholic magazine. Read the rest of the issue here.