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Towards the Jubilee 2025
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Meath Diocesan Jubilee Pilgrimage to Rome
Pope Declares the First Millenial Saint
Jubilee for Adolescents
25-27 April 2025
Pope Francis announced the canonisation of the Catholic Church's first millennial saint, Carlo Acutis, 27 April 2025 next. Acutis, who was born to Italian parents in London, was a web designer who died of leukemia in Italy in 2006 at the age of 15. Pope Francis beatified him in 2020 in Assisi, where his tomb draws a steady stream of pilgrims.
Acutis was beatified in 2020 after a miracle was formally attributed to him, one of the last steps in the lengthy process to sainthood, with a second miracle recognized in May.
The teen, who has been nicknamed “God’s influencer,” was a devout Catholic and used his computer coding skills to create a website chronicling Catholic miracles and apparitions. His remains, wearing jeans and Nike sneakers, is displayed in a tomb in the Italian town of Assisi and draws thousands of pilgrims each year.
"I want to say that next year on the day of children and adolescents, I will canonize Carlo Acutis,” the pope said.
Blessed Carlo Acutis
'God's Influencer'
Papal Bull Proclaims Jubilee Year
Tradition dictates that each Jubilee is proclaimed through the publication of a Papal (or Pontifical) ‘Bull of Indiction’. By ‘Bull’ is meant an official document, generally written in Latin, bearing the seal of the Pope, the shape of which gives its name to the document itself.
In the past the seal was usually made of lead and bore, on the front, the image of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, founders of the Church of Rome, and, on the back, the name of the current Pontiff.
Later an ink stamp replaced the metal seal, which, however, continued to be used for more important documents.
Each Bull is identified by its initial words. For example, Saint John Paul II proclaimed the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000 with the Bull Incarnationis Mysterium (The Mystery of the Incarnation), while Pope Francis proclaimed the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy (2015-2016) with the Bull Misericordiae vultus (The face of mercy).
The Bull announcing the Jubilee, which indicates the dates of the beginning and end of the Holy Year, is usually issued the previous year, coinciding with the Solemnity of the Ascension. For the 2025 Jubilee, publication is expected on May 9, 2024
Five Holy Doors Will Open in Rome for the Jubilee 2025
The Dicastery for Evangelization issued a note on Thursday reaffirming that the Holy Doors of the 2025 Jubilee of Hope in Rome will be located at the four papal basilicas as well as at a prison. The Holy Doors will be located at the Basilica of St. Peter, the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran, the Basilica of St. Mary Major, and the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls. A fifth door will also be located at a prison, the name of which has not yet been announced.
The Jubilee of Hope will take place from Dec. 24, 2024 — Christmas Eve — to Jan. 6, 2026, the feast of the Epiphany.
The Jubilee Prayer
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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
​
What is the Jubilee?
“Jubilee” is the name given to a particular year; the name appears to derive from the instrument used to mark its beginning: that is, the yobel, the ram's horn, the sound of which proclaims the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). This holiday occurs every year, but it takes on special significance when it marks the beginning of a Jubilee year. We can find an initial concept of it in the Bible: a Jubilee year was to be convened every 50 years, since it was the “extra” year, to be lived every seven weeks of years, i.e., every 49 years (cf. Leviticus 25:8-13). It was intended as an occasion on which to re-establish proper relationship with God, with one another, and with creation, and involved the forgiveness of debts, the return of alienated land, and the resting of farm land.
Quoting the prophet Isaiah, the Gospel of Luke also describes Jesus’ mission in this manner: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord” (Luke 4:18-19; cf. Isaiah 61:1-2). Jesus lives out these words in his daily encounters and relationships, which bring about liberation and conversion.
In 1300, Pope Boniface VIII called the first Jubilee, which is also called a
“Holy Year,” since it is a time in which God's holiness transforms us. The frequency of Holy Years has changed over time: at first, they were celebrated every 100 years; later, in 1343 Pope Clement VI reduced it to every 50 years, and in 1470 Pope Paul II made it every 25 years. There have also been “extraordinary” occasions for Holy Years: for example, in 1933 Pope Pius XI chose to commemorate the 1900th anniversary of our Redemption in Christ, and in 2015 Pope Francis proclaimed the Year of Mercy. The manner of celebrating a Jubilee Year has also changed: originally it consisted of a pilgrimage to the Roman Basilicas of St. Peter and St. Paul, later other signs were added, such as that of the Holy Door. By participating in the Holy Year, one is granted a plenary indulgence.
