Spes non confundit (“Hope does not disappoint” (Rom 5:5) – Bull of Indiction of the Ordinary Jubilee of the year of 2025 Francis Bishop of Rome Servant of the Servants of God to all who read this letter may hope fill your hearts.
The Catholic Church has celebrated Jubilees every 25 years since 1470. The first Jubilee was called by Pope Boniface VIII in 1300 and was also known as a “Holy Year”. The tradition of the Jubilee Year dates back to the Old Testament and the Hebrew scriptures, where every 50 years was a jubilee year. During a jubilee year, slaves and prisoners were freed, debts were forgiven, and God’s mercies were especially evident
The 2025 Jubilee will officially open on December 24, 2024 at 7pm, with the rite of Opening of the Holy Door of the Papal Basilica of St. Peter by the Holy Father, who will then preside over the celebration of the Night Mass of the Lord’s Birth inside the Basilica. The Jubilee Year will end on January 6, 2026, the Feast of the Epiphany.
A Jubilee or Holy Year is a special year of forgiveness and reconciliation, in which people are invited to come back into right relationship with God, with one another, and with all of creation.
The theme is Pilgrims of Hope. Pope Francis has invited Catholics to renew our hope and discover a vision that can “restore access to the fruits of the earth to everyone”. We are also invited to rediscover a spirituality of God’s creation in which we understand ourselves as “pilgrims on the earth” rather than masters of the world.
Find out more about the Jubilee Year on the official website
“Prayer unites us; it makes us brothers and sisters. It is in prayer that our hearts find the strength not to be cold and insensitive in the face of injustice. In prayer, God keeps calling us, opening our hearts to charity. ” Pope Francis.
Jubilee Prayer
The official Prayer allows pilgrims from all over the world to use the same words to express gratitude to God for the Jubilee experience and request the grace of forgiveness. The Jubilee is an experience of faith and a profound encounter with the Lord.
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
Click here for details about the celebration of the Jubilee Year in England and Wales