These words from St. Paul to the Church of Rome bring forth the central message of the coming Jubilee Year as announced by Pope Francis, set to begin on Dec. 24.

In his February 2022 letter announcing the Jubilee 2025, Pope Francis stated: “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 a broad mind. The forthcoming Jubilee can help a great deal to restore a climate of hope and trust, as a sign of a new renaissance that we all perceive as urgent.”

What is a Year of Jubilee?

In the Catholic Church, 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. It is often celebrated every 25 years. This has been the case since 1470, when Pope Paul II changed it from every 50 years. A pope can also proclaim an Extraordinary Jubilee, like the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, inaugurated by Pope Francis in 2015.

What is the Biblical background for the Jubilee Year? The word ‘jubilee’ comes from the Hebrew word yobel, which is a ram’s horn. This wind instrument is blown to mark the beginning of a Jubilee Year in the Bible. (Lev. 25:9) It occurred every 50 years and involved the canceling of debts, a period of rest for people and the earth and land being restored to the landless.

In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus makes clear his own mission is to bring Jubilee. In the synagogue at Nazareth, he reads from the scroll of the prophet Isaiah, proclaiming the year of the Lord’s favor: “The Spirit of the Lord has been given to me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim the Lord's year of favor.” (Lk. 4:18-19)

After reading, Jesus announces: “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” Jesus shows us what God’s Kingdom of justice, compassion and freedom looks like. He invites us to join him in making it a reality.

Jesus, the 'Door' of Salvation

In this Jubilee of Hope, we are invited to be pilgrims of hope, experiencing the Jubilee as “a moment of genuine, personal encounter with the Lord Jesus, the ‘door’ (cf. Jn 10:7.9) of our salvation, whom the Church is charged to proclaim always, everywhere and to all as ‘our hope.’” (1 Tim. 1:1)

In Catholic tradition, with each Jubilee Year, a Holy Door is designated as a place for pilgrims to pass through, representing the passage to salvation – the path to a new and eternal life, which was opened to humanity by Jesus. The Holy Door of the Basilica of St. Peter in the Vatican will be opened on Dec. 24, thus inaugurating the Ordinary Jubilee. On the following Sunday, Dec. 29, the Holy Door of the Cathedral of Rome, the Church of St. John Lateran will be opened. On Jan. 1 — the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God— the Holy Door of the Papal Basilica of St. Mary Major will be opened. Finally, Jan. 5 will mark the opening of the Holy Door of the Papal Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls.

The Jubilee of Hope will conclude with the closing of the Holy Door in the Papal Basilica of St. Peter in the Vatican on Jan. 6, 2026, the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord.

Pope Francis, in his Bull of Indiction, Spes Non Confundit, has decreed that on Sunday, Dec. 29, diocesan bishops are to celebrate Holy Mass as the solemn opening of the Jubilee Year in every cathedral and co-cathedral. This Mass will be celebrated at 3 p.m. at the Cathedral of the Assumption of Mary in Saginaw, which will be designated as a place of pilgrimage throughout the Holy Year. As the designated pilgrimage site in the Diocese of Saginaw, pilgrims who take advantage of this will be able to obtain the Holy Year indulgence by performing the norms required by the Church.

The Holy Year concludes in our diocese on Dec. 28, 2025. We are currently in the planning stages for our diocesan Holy Year, and future events to celebrate the Jubilee of Hope will be publicized in this magazine and saginaw.org.

Allow me to conclude with the words of Pope Francis: “The coming Jubilee will thus be a Holy Year marked by the hope that does not fade, our hope in God. May it help us to recover the confident trust that we require, in the Church and in society, in our interpersonal relationships, in international relations, and in our task of promoting the dignity of all persons and respect for God’s gift of creation. May the witness of believers be for our world a leaven of authentic hope, a harbinger of new heavens and a new earth (cf. 2 Pet. 3:13), where men and women will dwell in justice and harmony, in joyful expectation of the fulfillment of the Lord’s promises. May the power of hope fill our days, as we await with confidence the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and glory, now and forever.” (Spes Non Confundit, #25)

The Jubilee Prayer

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