Jubilee 2025 - Pilgrims of Hope
From the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston Website
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Información en español
Vatican Jubilee 2025 Website: Iubilaeum 2025
USCCB web page for the Jubilee of Young People
Jubilees in the Bible
In ancient Judaism, the Jubilee Year (which was called the year of the yōbēl, "of the goat", because the holiday was proclaimed by the sound of a goat's horn) was a year that was declared holy.
During this period, the Mosaic law prescribed that slaves could regain their freedom, and that land, (of which God is the sole master), should be returned to its former owners.
A jubilee year was typically celebrated every 50 years.
Bible in a Year Day 49: The Year of Jubilee
Exodus 35-36, Leviticus 25, and Psalm 81
Jubilees Throughout History
In the Catholic Church, the concept of Jubilee or 'Holy Year' was used to declare special years for forgiveness and reconciliation.
The first Jubilee was declared by Pope Boniface VII on Feb. 22, 1300 (Feast of the Chair of St. Peter), to mark the beginning of that century.
He later recommended it occurring every 100 years.
Learn more here.
Jubilee Plenary Indulgence
Pope Francis announced an indulgence is available to the faithful during the jubilee year.
The indulgence, he explained, would be “a way of discovering the unlimited nature of God’s mercy.”
A plenary indulgence is a grace granted by the Catholic Church through the merits of Jesus Christ to remove the temporal punishment due to sin.
The conditions necessary for a Jubilee indulgence include:
- Being in a state of grace and disposed to receive the indulgence
- Having confessed one’s sins sacramentally
- Receiving Holy Communion
- Offering prayers for the Holy Father and his intentions
- If able, make a pilgrimage to a designated Jubilee pilgrim site, such as Houston’s Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart or St. Mary Cathedral Basilica in Galveston
Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston
Special places of prayer for local pilgrims, offering Holy Year opportunities for reconciliation, indulgences and other events intended to strengthen and revive faith.
- St. Mary Cathedral Basilica, 2011 Church St., Galveston, 409-762-9646, Website
- Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart,1111 St. Joseph Pkwy., Houston, 713-659-1561, Website
- Diocesan cathedrals are not designated with their own holy doors during the Jubilee
United States (USCCB)
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National U.S. Pilgrim Gathering at the 2025 Jubilee of Young People: The USCCB will host a National U.S. Pilgrim Gathering during the Jubilee of Young People on Wednesday, July 30, 2025, at 7pm local time at the Papal Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls in Rome. To reserve your space, use this special link. Special thanks to the generosity of the Knights of Columbus for supporting this event. More information
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Pier Giorgio Frassati Canonization: The Holy Father will canonize Pier Giorgio Frassati during the Closing Mass for the Jubilee of Young People in Rome on Sunday, August 3, 2025. Pope Francis made the announcement on November 20, 2024, saying, "Next year, during the Jubilee of Adolescents, I will canonize Blessed Carlo Acutis and in the Jubilee of Young People, Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati." Details about the canonization are still pending. In the meantime, please check out the USCCB web page for Frassati .
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Frassati Mountaineering Jubilee Pilgrimage: This summer, COR Expeditions (an outreach of Wyoming Catholic College) and Altum L’alto Pilgrimages, with Bp. James Conley of Lincoln, invite young adults to Italy for a mountain climbing experience in the spirit of Pier Giorgio Frassati (July 24-29) with an optional add-on (July 29-Aug 3) to take part in the Jubilee of Young People and the Frassati Canonization in Rome. More details, including costs, can be found online here: https://www.corexpeditions.org/frassaticourse
Vatican
Great tradition of opening the Holy Door
- Began when Pope Francis opened the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica on Dec. 24
- Other holy doors were opened at the Rome basilicas of St. John Lateran, St. Mary Major and St. Paul Outside the Walls.
- The Church invites all Catholics to celebrate the Jubilee of Young People in Summer 2025, to which young adults ages 18-35 are particularly invited. This special moment during the Holy Year is an opportunity for young people to travel to Rome or celebrate stateside for an experience of transformation and hope.
The Jubilee Logo
To learn about the meaning of the logo for the 2025 Jubilee, click here.
Jubilee 2025 Calendar
This 2025 calendar of events includes a one-page overview of the Holy Year moments followed by several pages of anticipated detailed schedules for each Jubilee celebration in Rome, which can be replicated or adapted at the discretion of each local community.
Spes Non Confundit - Bull of Indiction
On Thursday, May 9, the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord, Pope Francis officially proclaimed the Ordinary Jubilee of 2025 with the public reading and delivery of Spes Non Confundit, the Bull of Indiction for the Holy Year, in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican.
Click here for a newsletter with some helpful information on the Bull.
Jubilee Prayer
Father in heaven, may the faith you have gifted us in your son Jesus Christ, our brother,
and the flame of charity kindled in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, reawaken in us, the blessed hope
for the coming of your Kingdom.
Official Jubilee Hymn
There is a hymn written to be used throughout the year, especially when the Mass Propers are used. The Original text is by Pierangelo Sequeri.
Oftentimes, while walking along, a song will come to mind which really seems to express how we are feeling. This is also true for the life of faith, which is a pilgrimage toward the light of the Risen Lord. The Sacred Scriptures are steeped in song, and the Psalms are a striking example: the prayers of the people of Israel were written to be sung, and it was in song that the most human events were presented before the Lord. The tradition of the Church has continued this, making music and song one of the lungs of its liturgy. The Jubilee, which in itself is expressed as an event of people on pilgrimage to the Holy Door, also uses song as one of the ways of expressing its motto, “Pilgrims of Hope”.
Many themes of the Holy Year are woven into the text written by Pierangelo Sequeri and set to music by Francesco Meneghello. First of all, the motto, “Pilgrims of Hope”, is best echoed biblically in some pages from the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 9 and Isaiah 60). The themes of creation, fraternity, God's tenderness and hope in our destination resonate in a language, which although not "technically" theological, is in substance and in the allusions, so that it rings eloquently in the ears of our time.
With each step of their daily pilgrimage believers trustingly rely on the source of Life. The song that arises spontaneously during the journey (cf. Augustine, Discourses, 256) is directed to God. It is a song charged with the hope of being freed and supported. It is a song imbued with the hope that it will reach the ears of the One from whom all things flow. It is God who as an ever-living flame keeps hope burning and energizes the steps of the people as they journey.
The prophet Isaiah repeatedly sees the family of men and women, sons and daughters, returning from their scattered ways, gathered in the light of God's Word: “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light” (Is 9:2). The light is that of the Son who became Man, Jesus, who by His own Word gathers every people and nation. It is the living flame of Jesus that stirs the step: “Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you” (Is 60:1).
Christian hope is dynamic and enlightens the pilgrimage of life, revealing the faces of brothers and sisters, companions on the journey. It is not a roaming of lone wolves, but a journey of people, confident and joyful, moving toward a New destination. The breath of the Spirit of life does not fail to brighten the dawn of the future that is about to arise. The heavenly Father patiently and tenderly watches over the pilgrimage of his children and opens wide the Way for them, pointing to Jesus, his Son, who becomes a pathway for everyone.
English
Sheet Music - Text
Recording: Recording performed by the Choir of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Washington, DC - Peter Latona, Director
Mass for the Year
On May 13, 2024, the Holy See's Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments confirmed the text of the "Mass for the Holy Year" in multiple languages.
The USCCB provides them in English, Spanish, and Latin.
These may be used during the Jubilee Year 2025, from December 24, 2024 to January 6, 2026.