ORLANDO | Pope Francis inaugurated the Jubilee Year of Hope on Christmas Eve in Vatican City. Four days later, Bishop John Noonan officially inaugurated its start in the Diocese of Orlando with a procession symbolizing the pilgrimage of the people. Celebrated on the feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, the bull (Spes non confundit) noted, “It is the journey of the Holy Family of God that in the Church of today advances towards the heavenly Jerusalem.” This year’s theme is Pilgrims of Hope.

“How providential that we are called to celebrate this year and to ponder the virtue of hope. In a world torn by war, and evil deeds, we need hope. In a country divided by political strife and facing the uncertainty of a new administration, we seek hope. In personal struggles with illness or family relationships, we look for signs of hope,” said Rita Thiron, executive director of the Federation of Diocesan Liturgical Commission for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Following are excerpts from Thiron’s notes for the Jubilee Year.

A Jubilee Year is a significant moment in the life of the Church in which she celebrates the year of messianic favor inaugurated by Christ through His Incarnation and Paschal Mystery (Lk 4:19).

Proclaimed every 25 years since the 13th century, the celebration of jubilee years typically includes pilgrimages, processions, celebrations of Mass, and an invitation to the Sacrament of Reconciliation. These liturgical celebrations are opportunities to receive the Lord’s mercy, especially through the practice of Jubilee indulgence, and lead to the performance of works of mercy. The theme for this Jubilee is Pilgrims of Hope, and the Bull suggests several ways to bring Christ and His message of hope to the world, for example, by working for peace and an end to conflicts, promoting human life, showing amnesty to prisoners, upholding the dignity of migrants, healing the sick, and accompanying the elderly – or even through the forgiveness of debts, a custom of jubilee years in the Old Testament.

Holy Doors and Indulgences

The Holy Father has designated four Holy Doors — at St. Peter’s Basilica, St. John Lateran, St. Mary Major, and St. Paul Outside the Walls. The Holy Father opened a Holy Door at Rebibbia Prison in Italy, since the year of the Lord’s favor is a year when liberty and release are proclaimed to captives and prisoners (Lk 4:18). There are no other Holy Doors. However, there are other pilgrimage sites.

In the Diocese of Orlando, pilgrimage sites include St. James Cathedral in Orlando, the Basilica of the National Shrine of Mary, Queen of the Universe in Orlando, and the Basilica of St. Paul in Daytona Beach. The Jubilee indulgence may be obtained by going to any one of these three churches and fulfilling the indulgence requirements.

Pilgrimages

An indulgence may be received by those who travel to any sacred Jubilee site and participate in a Mass, a Liturgy of the Word, one of the major hours from the Liturgy of the Hours (Office of Readings, Morning Prayer, or Evening Prayer), devotional prayers such as the Way of the Cross, the Rosary, the Akathist hymn, or a penance service that ends with Sacramental Confession. Additionally, an indulgence may be obtained by a pilgrimage to one of the four Papal Major Basilicas in Rome, one of three Basilicas in the Holy Land, a cathedral, or another church or sacred place that has been designated by the local Ordinary.

Pious Visits

In addition to pilgrimages, the Jubilee indulgence may also be obtained by piously visiting a Jubilee site and engaging in Eucharistic Adoration and meditation for a suitable period of time, concluding with an Our Father, a Profession of Faith, and invocations to Mary.

Several Jubilee sites have also been designated in Rome, Assisi, and Padua. Those who are unable to take part in pilgrimages or pious visits for serious reasons, such as cloistered religious, the elderly, the sick and those who care for them, or the imprisoned, may obtain the indulgence by uniting themselves in spirit with those making pilgrimages or pious visits, reciting an Our Father, a Profession of Faith, and other prayers in harmony with the purpose of the Jubilee year, and offering up their sufferings and hardships to the Lord.

Works of Mercy and Penance

The performance of works of mercy and penance provide the most diverse opportunities to obtain the Jubilee indulgence, including participation in popular missions, spiritual exercises, formational activities on the documents of Vatican II or the Catechism of the Catholic Church, or the performance of corporal or spiritual works of mercy. Additionally, while a plenary indulgence may normally be obtained only once a day, during the Jubilee a second plenary indulgence can be received on behalf of the souls in Purgatory, by those faithful who carry out an act of charity and receive Holy Communion a second time in the context of Mass.

These generous grants for the Jubilee indulgence afford the faithful many ways to obtain and apply the graces of Christ’s sacrifice and God’s mercy to themselves, to the faithful departed, and to others in the world in need of spiritual and physical care.

Missionary of Mercy and rector of the Basilica of the National Shrine of Mary, Queen of the Universe, Father Anthony Aarons, invites all to the Pilgrimage of the Sick, Feb. 15, from 9 a.m.-noon. The pilgrimage offers the opportunity to participate in Mass and receive Holy Communion, and the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and to receive the Anointing of the Sick. The morning will begin with a talk at 9 a.m. given by Father Miguel González, followed by Eucharistic Adoration, the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and the celebration of Mass at noon.

“An indulgence is an extra mercy beyond what the Lord has in store for us,” Father Aarons explained. He encourages all to do this “as often as possible.”

As with the Extraordinary Year of Mercy in 2016, where Father Aarons often shared Lamentations 3 because people felt hopeless, he said he plans to share it once it again. “Then, we were remembering the Lord’s mercy and now we are calling people to hope,” he said. “When we remember the Lord, there is where the hope springs.”

The Holy Year will conclude Dec. 28, 2025.

Click here to learn more about the Jubilee of Hope.

Click here to learn more about the Jubilee of Hope from the USCCB.

Compiled by Glenda Meekins and the USCCB, January 09, 2025