Jubilee 2025: Pilgrims of Hope
A Jubilee Year in the Catholic Church is a special year of grace and reconciliation. Presently, the Catholic Church celebrates a Jubilee Year every 25 years, although the pope can also declare an “extra” extraordinary Jubilee year between the regularly-scheduled jubilees (as Pope Francis did from December 2015 – November 2016 with the Year of Mercy.) The year 2000 was a Jubilee year, as is the year 2025.
The concept of a Jubilee year is rooted in the ancient Jewish tradition described in chapter 25 of the book Leviticus. As we read: “You shall count seven weeks of years – seven times seven years – such that the seven weeks of years amount to 49 years. (…) You shall treat this 50th year as sacred. You shall proclaim liberty in the land for all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, when each of you shall return to your own property, each of you to your own family” (Leviticus 25:8,10).
In fact, the word “jubilee” originates from the name of the ram’s horn, called a “yobel,” which is sounded on Yom Kippur, the Jewish holy day of atonement and which was used to mark the opening of a jubilee year.
As the Vatican Jubilee website describes, the Catholic adaptation of jubilee years began in the Middle Ages: “In 1300, Pope Boniface VIII called the first Jubilee, also known as a ‘Holy Year,’ since it is a time in which God’s holiness transforms us. The frequency of Holy Years has changed over time: at first, they were celebrated every 100 years; later, in 1343 Pope Clement VI reduced the gap between Jubilees to every 50 years, and in 1470 Pope Paul II made it every 25 years.”
There are a number of ways in which Catholics can participate in the Jubilee year. The most traditional Jubilee observance is making a pilgrimage, as pilgrimages are emblematic of our life’s journey towards God and of conversion in general. Historically, the “classic” Jubilee pilgrimage was to the four major basilicas in Rome: St. John Lateran, St. Peter’s, St. Mary Major, and St. Paul outside the walls. Today, while many Catholics still make the traditional pilgrimage to Rome for the Jubilee, local diocesan bishops typically designate a local site, such as the cathedral or a local shrine, as a Jubilee pilgrimage destination for those who are unable to travel to Rome. In our Archdiocese of Vancouver the Archbishop’s decree designates three sacred locations in the Archdiocese where pilgrims may obtain the Jubilee Indulgence:
Holy Rosary Cathedral in Vancouver, which the Archbishop said should be in a special way among the “sacred places of welcome and privileged spaces for the rebirth of hope” like the other Marian Shrines Pope Francis mentions in his proclamation of the Jubilee Year;
St. Jude’s Parish and Shrine in Vancouver;
St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Agassiz, along with the adjacent Shrine of Santo Niño de Cebu.
The faithful can obtain the Jubilee Indulgence by visiting one of the designated sites and devoutly participating in Holy Mass or other sacred acts, such as the celebration of the Word of God, the Liturgy of the Hours, the Way of the Cross, the Rosary, or a penitential celebration that includes individual confession.
Connected with the tradition of pilgrimage, another key symbol of the Jubilee is the holy door, which reminds us of Jesus’s saying in the Gospel of John: “I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture” (John 10:9). The Jubilee formally began when Pope Francis opened the until-then sealed holy door in St. Peter’s basilica on Dec. 24; and there are holy doors in all the major Roman basilicas which pilgrims may pass through as a sign of their desire to return to the Lord or renew their relationship with God.
Finally, another major part of a Jubilee year is the special opportunities to earn indulgences. An indulgence is “the remission in the sight of God of the temporal punishment due for sins, the guilt of which has already been forgiven” (Canon 922).
Indulgences are attached to certain prayers or pious acts which the faithful who are properly disposed – that is, spiritually healthy and free from attachment to sin – may fulfill in order to free themselves from the need for purgatory or to hasten the journey to heaven for a soul that is already in purgatory. Indulgences are an especially beautiful way to commemorate the Jubilee, as they perfectly represent the Jubilee themes of reconciliation and return to God.
I wish you all a very happy feast of the Epiphany of the Lord.