In the Catholic Church, the concept of Jubilee or ‘Holy Year’ was used to declare special years for forgiveness and reconciliation. 

The first Jubilee was declared by Pope Boniface VIII on 22nd February 1300 (Feast of the Chair of St. Peter), to mark the beginning of that century. He later recommended it occurring every 100 years.  

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 2025 Jubilee, which has the theme of “Pilgrims of Hope” will be a year of hope and trust for a world suffering the impacts of war, the ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the increased threats to the climate. 

Intended as a time of conversion and emphasis on God’s mercy and forgiveness of sins, Jubilees begin with the opening of the Holy Door in St. Peter’s Basilica. Holy Doors at each of the four papal basilicas in Rome are destination points for pilgrims, who pass through seeking special graces.

In preparing spiritually for the 2025 Jubilee, Pope Francis has asked Catholics to:

a) Study the key documents from the Second Vatican Council, held between 1962-1965.  
The four constitutions of Vatican II are: 

• Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy – Sacrosanctum Concilium
• Dogmatic constitution on the Church – Lumen Gentium
• Dogmatic constitution on the Divine Revelation – Dei Verbum
• Pastoral constitution on Church in the modern world – Gaudium et Spes  

b) Begin 2024 by focusing on prayer. 

The four Constitutions of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, together with the Magisterium of these recent decades, will continue to provide direction and guidance to God’s holy people, so that it can press forward in its mission of bringing the joyful proclamation of the Gospel to everyone.

Letter of the Holy Father Pope Francis for the Jubilee 2025

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. 

For more information on the Vatican’s Jubilee Year go to: www.giubileo-2025.it/en 

For more information on Holy Years in the Catholic Church go to: HISTORY (vatican.va) 

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