Jubilee Snippets

What does the “Indulgence” offered by the Church during the Jubilee represent?

A note published by the Apostolic Penitentiary May 13, 2024 outlined the conditions for obtaining the Jubilee indulgence. To receive this gift of God’s mercy, the Church requires the faithful to do the following: go to sacramental confession, receive Holy Communion, pray for the intentions of the Pope, undertake a Roman pilgrimage to at least one of the four Papal Basilicas in Rome, or in the Holy Land, or in one of the designated Jubilee sacred sites chosen by bishops in their own dioceses, and finally to carry out works of mercy that reveal the Church’s maternal face to those in need.

Why is the sacrament of Reconciliation, through which God forgives our sins, not sufficient? In truth, the Church has observed over the centuries that the negative imprint of sin remains in our behaviour and our thoughts. Through indulgence, the mercy of the Father frees the sinner from all that lingers as a consequence of sin, enabling us to act with charity and grow in love. In essence, while we already receive the essential forgiveness of sins through confession, the indulgence goes further by removing those “impurities” we still carry with us, which are the lingering effects of the sins we have committed.

To experience the indulgence of the Jubilee 2025 is therefore to enter more deeply into a dynamic of purification and forgiveness. In practical terms, those who receive the indulgence return to the original state of grace of Baptism. The practice of indulgence is thus a true treasure, rooted in the very mystery of the Redemption brought about by Christ. Furthermore, the acts required to obtain the indulgence, be that through prayers and devotional practices, penances, or gestures of charity, are themselves means of concretely responding to the personal call to conversion in order to move forward on the path to holiness.

An indulgence is a miracle of grace!

(August 2025)

The meaning of pilgrimage

In pilgrimage we turn our gaze towards the spiritual dimension of our being, which is often put in second order to the everyday things that normally demand our attention; on this journey we leave our usual comforts behind and focus on the essential.

The pilgrimage to Rome has taken on particular importance since the end of the persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire (Emperor Constantine's Edict of Milan in 313). Since that time, the spiritual desire to visit the tombs of the apostles Peter and Paul, as well as the holy places in Jerusalem, has developed.

In the 13^th century, with Pope Boniface VIII, the Jubilee was institutionalized in Rome and pilgrimage is one of the elements required to live this experience of grace. “The practice of pilgrimage has a special place in the Holy Year, because it represents the journey each of us makes in this life. Life itself is a pilgrimage, and the human being is a viator, a pilgrim travelling along the road, making his way to the desired destination. Similarly, to reach the Holy Door in Rome or in any other place in the world, everyone, each according to his or her ability, will have to make a pilgrimage.”  recalled Misericordiae Vultus No. 14, Bull of Indiction of the previous Jubilee of the Catholic Church in 2015-2016.

A journey in space therefore, but also a journey in the time of our lives, because in the dynamics of pilgrimage we allow ourselves the possibility of “stopping” and perhaps reversing course if necessary: pilgrimage is therefore a time of conversion. Approaching the sacrament of reconciliation is a central moment of pilgrimage because it prepares the heart to receive the gift of new life in God.

(July 2025)

Why come on pilgrimage to Rome this year?
The Jubilee

Biblically, the origins of the Jubilee go back to the Old Testament. The Law of Moses established a special year for the people of Israel (cf. Lev 25:10–13). The trumpet used to announce this special year was a ram’s horn, called a yôbel in Hebrew, from which the word “jubilee” derives.
This year was marked by the restoration of land to its original owners, the remission of debts, the liberation of slaves, and the resting of the land.
In the New Testament, Jesus presents Himself as the One who fulfills the ancient Jubilee, for He came “to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (cf. Is 61:1–2).
In the Catholic tradition, the Jubilee Year is above all the Year of Christ, the bearer of life and grace. Every 25 years, the Jubilee celebrates the anniversary of the birth of God made man, who grants humanity a destiny of eternity. The effects of this historical event have continued throughout time. The first Jubilee was proclaimed in 1300 by Pope Boniface VIII. This was a time when it had become almost impossible for Christians to undertake a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. A reproduction of the Antiquorum habet fida relatio papal bull, which announced this first Roman Jubilee, is today engraved in the upper left corner of the Holy Door of St Peter’s Basilica. The Jubilee is commonly called the “Holy Year”, not only because it begins, takes place, and ends with sacred rites, but also because it aims to promote the holiness of life, step by step. A Jubilee can be “ordinary” if tied to the periodic cycle now set at 25 years, or “extraordinary” if proclaimed for a particularly important occasion. In the sign of hope that does not disappoint, this year we celebrate the 27th Ordinary Jubilee.

(June 2025)