Pope Francis has declared 2025 as a Holy Year in the universal Church, and that 2024 should be a year of preparation for this great Jubilee.
The idea of Jubilee has its roots in the Old Testament, with a celebration of a year of forgiveness and reconciliation. The Sabbath was the seventh day, a day of rest, and the Jubilee year was the year following seven times seven years, and so the Jubilee took place every 50th year. In the tradition of the Catholic Church, we now celebrate the Jubilee every 25 years. The Holy Year of 2025 will begin at the Christmas Vigil 2024, when the Holy Father will open the Holy Door of St Peter’s Basilica in Rome.
Click to open the official Vatican Jubilee 2025 site
There will be four Holy Doors opened in Rome in the four major basilicas – the basilicas of St Peter, St Paul Outside the Walls, St Mary Major and St John Lateran. Pilgrims to Rome will be encouraged to pass through the Holy Doors, which represent Christ, the gateway. Passing through the doors will take us into the church, a place of peace and reconciliation.
Pope Francis says of the Jubilee, “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 forthcoming Jubilee can contribute greatly to restoring a climate of hope and trust as a prelude to the renewal and rebirth that we so urgently desire; that is why I have chosen as the motto of the Jubilee, Pilgrims of Hope. This will indeed be the case if we are capable of recovering a sense of universal fraternity and refuse to turn a blind eye to the tragedy of rampant poverty that prevents millions of men, women, young people and children from living in a manner worthy of our human dignity. Here I think in particular of the many refugees forced to abandon their native lands. May the voices of the poor be heard throughout this time of preparation for the Jubilee, which is meant to restore access to the fruits of the earth to everyone. As the Bible teaches, “The sabbath of the land shall provide food for you, for yourself and for your male and female slaves and for your hired servant and the sojourner who lives with you; for your cattle also, and for the beasts that are in your land, all its yield shall be for food” ( Lev 25:6-7).”
Let us take this opportunity to renew both ourselves and the Church by taking part in the many events which are due to take place, both here in Scotland and in Rome.