EMMEL — What exactly is a Jubilee Year and how can we celebrate it?

No matter what you and your family do to celebrate this Jubilee Year, I hope you take time to grow in your relationship with God while spending time visiting holy sites and doing works of mercy alongside your family members.”

Phyllis Emmel

A Jubilee Year is a special year in the Catholic Church.

Jubilees have roots in the Old Testament. In the Bible, the Jubilee Year happened every 50 years. The purpose was to bring fairness, healing and peace and to offer a fresh start to the Israelites.

The word “jubilee” comes from the Hebrew word “yobel,” which refers to the ram’s horn used to announced a jubilee in the Old Testament.

Old Testament origins

God told Moses every 50th year was to be set aside for the return of absent members to their households, the restoration of land to its owners, the release of Hebrew slaves and the forgiveness of debts.

“This fiftieth year you shall make sacred by proclaiming liberty in the land for all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, when every one of you shall return to his own property, everyone to his own family estate,” (Leviticus 25:10).

Pope Boniface VIII proclaimed the first Christian jubilee in 1300 A.D. it granted the full remission of sin for those who confessed their sins and made a pilgrimage to St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.

Since then, it has become an important event in the Catholic calendar.

Once held every 100 years, then every 50, Jubilee Years now happen every 25 years.

Jubilee Years are a time for special celebrations, pilgrimages, acts of penance and most importantly, focusing on God’s mercy and forgiveness.

The pope declares a Jubilee Year. During the Holy Year, Catholics are encouraged to renew their relationship with God through prayer, penance and acts of kindness. Pilgrimages to holy places are encouraged. The Jubilee Year is a time for all Catholics to grow closer to God and to each other, remembering that God always offers us new beginnings!

Recent Jubilee Years

1950: During this Holy Year of 1950, Venerable Pope Pius XII proclaimed the dogma of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven.

1975: This Holy Year of reconciliation was proclaimed by Pope St. Paul VI.

1983: Pope St. John Paul II proclaimed a special Jubilee Year in 1983 to celebrate the 1,950th anniversary of the death and resurrection of Jesus.

2000: Pope St. John Paul II proclaimed the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000.

2015: Pope Francis declared an extraordinary jubilee for the 50th anniversary of the end of the Second Vatican Council. The jubilee was dedicated to mercy.

Jubilee 2025: Pilgrims of Hope was proclaimed by Pope Francis in the papal bull “Spec non Confundit” (“Hope does not disappoint”).

The jubilee began in Rome on the vigil of the Lord’s Nativity on Dec. 24, 2024, with the opening of the Holy Door in St. Peter’s Basilica, and in local dioceses on Holy Family Sunday on Dec. 29.

It will conclude in local dioceses the following Holy Family Sunday, on Dec. 28, 2025, and in Rome on Jan. 6, 2026, the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord.

Keep in mind

Some important things to keep in mind during this jubilee year include:

• Jubilee indulgence: Special graces for the forgiveness of the temporal punishment due to sins are made available during the Jubilee Year. The faithful may obtain a plenary indulgence — remission of all temporal punishment (time in purgatory) for sin — by meeting the normal conditions (Confession, Holy Communion, prayer for the pope’s intentions, and no attachment to sin) and by participating in one of the following activities.
• Pilgrimages: The four major basilicas in Rome are the main pilgrimage destinations, but pilgrims may also go to the Holy Land, their diocesan cathedral, or other officially designated locations.

Official pilgrimage sites in this diocese include: the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Jefferson City; St. Peter Church in Brush Creek; the Shrine of St. Patrick in St. Patrick; the Shrine of Our Lady of Sorrows in Starkenburg; and the National Shrine of Mary, Mother of the Church, in Laurie.

• Pious visits to sacred places: At these locations, the faithful are to engage in eucharistic adoration and meditation, among other spiritual practices.
• Works of mercy and penance: The faithful are to perform the spiritual and corporal works of mercy or carry out works of penance, such as abstaining from meat on Fridays.
• Holy doors: The pope opens the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica at the beginning of each jubilee year. Passing through the holy doors symbolizes a pilgrim’s journey of conversion.
• Major Basilicas: The pope also opens the Holy Doors of the four main churches (called “major basilicas”) in Rome: St. John Lateran, St. Mary Major and St. Paul Outside the Walls.

How can we participate in 2025?

• Make time for daily prayer and reflection on the themes of hope, reconciliation and mercy.
• Read Scripture, specially the Psalms and the Gospels, that speak to the promise of hope.
• Perform acts of mercy or kindness that make the world a better place and spread hope.
• Celebrate the Sacraments, particularly the Holy Eucharist and Reconciliation.
• Make a pilgrimage, whether to Rome or to a nearby shrine or holy site.
• Take part in retreats or events that focus on the themes of the jubilee to grow in understanding and build faith.

No matter what you and your family do to celebrate this Jubilee Year, I hope you take time to grow in your relationship with God while spending time visiting holy sites and doing works of mercy alongside your family members.

Mrs. Emmel teaches at Immaculate Conception School in Jefferson City.