What is the Jubilee Year 2025 being celebrated in Rome and why is it important for the Catholic Church?
The Catholic Church will be celebrating the Jubilee Year in 2025. The celebration kicked off on Christmas Eve and will run through Jan. 6, 2026.
On Dec. 24, Christmas Eve, the Jubilee Year 2025 officially began after the opening of the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica by Pope Francis, moments before the celebration of the traditional Midnight Mass.
This ritual, which represents access to divine mercy, marks the beginning of a special period of grace and spiritual renewal.
The term Jubilee is believed to come from the Hebrew word yobel, which is used to identify a musical instrument made from a ram’s horn and which was used by the Jews to mark the beginning of this holiday.
There is also a Latin word, iubilum, which means joy, gladness or praise, and which could also be linked to the origin of this holiday.
For 2025, the motto of the celebration will be “Pilgrims of Hope,” and the Jubilee Year will last a little over a year, until Jan. 6, 2026, when it will close with celebration of the Epiphany of the Lord.
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The Jubilee of Hope 2025 has begun! Pope Francis opened the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican. The Catholic Church begins a Holy Year that the Popes proclaim every 25 years. #Jubilee2025 pic.twitter.com/gzXULGO3OZ
— EWTN Vatican (@EWTNVatican) December 24, 2024
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The origins of the Jubilee Year
The first Jubilee Year of the Catholic Church was instituted in 1300 by Pope Boniface VIII with the intention of creating a special period of reflection in which pilgrims who visited Rome and met certain requirements could deepen their relationship with God and earn a plenary indulgence.
These requirements include passing through the Holy Door, confessing, taking communion, praying and performing an act of piety, mercy or penance. For the Catholic Church, the Jubilee is the year of forgiveness of sins, reconciliation, conversion and sacramental penance.
Since 1450, ordinary Jubilee Years have been celebrated every 25 years in the Catholic Church, although there have also been Extraordinary Jubilee Years. The last one was declared by Pope Francis in 2015, and was known as the Year of Mercy.
In the Jewish tradition, Jubilee Years are celebrated every 50 years.
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