Jubilee Year

The Catholic Church worldwide will be celebrating a special Jubilee Year in 2025. This has been a tradition dating back to the year 1300 when Pope Boniface VIII announced the first Jubilee, which is also referred to as a “Holy Year”. The frequency has changed over time, with a Jubilee year originally celebrated every 100 years, later every 50 years and, more recently, every 25 years or at the request of the Holy Father.

The Jubilee Year includes many celebrations within the city of Rome and also local initiatives in dioceses around the world. The theme of the 2025 Jubilee will be “Pilgrims of Hope”. In the words of Pope Francis: "We must fan the flame of hope that has been given us, and help everyone to gain new strength and certainty by looking to the future with an open spirit, a trusting heart and far-sighted vision."

The Jubilee Prayer

Father in heaven,
may the faith you have given us
in your son, Jesus Christ, our brother,
and the flame of charity enkindled
in our hearts by the Holy Spirit,
reawaken in us the blessed hope
for the coming of your Kingdom.

May your grace transform us
into tireless cultivators of the seeds of the Gospel.
May those seeds transform from within both humanity
and the whole cosmos
in the sure expectation
of a new heaven and a new earth,
when, with the powers of Evil vanquished,
your glory will shine eternally.

May the grace of the Jubilee
reawaken in us, Pilgrims of Hope,
a yearning for the treasures of heaven.
May that same grace spread
the joy and peace of our Redeemer
throughout the earth.
To you our God, eternally blessed,
be glory and praise for ever.

Amen.