SCRANTON – On Dec. 29, 2024, a special Mass will be held locally by Bishop Joseph C. Bambera, to mark the opening of the 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope.
The Mass, which will take place at 12:15 p.m. at the Cathedral of Saint Peter, 315 Wyoming Avenue, Scranton, will serve as the official “local launch” of a year-long period of spiritual reflection, renewal and pilgrimage.
The theme of the Holy Year is “Pilgrims of Hope.” The papal bull that introduced the coming Jubilee Year is titled, ‘Spes Non Confundit,’ or “Hope does not disappoint,” drawn from Romans 5:5.
A Jubilee Year, also known as a “holy year,” is a special year in the life of the church currently celebrated every 25 years. The most recent ordinary jubilee was in 2000, with Pope Francis calling for an Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy in 2015-2016. Jubilee Years have been held on regular intervals in the Catholic church since 1300, but they trace their roots to the Jewish tradition of marking a jubilee year every 50 years.
Jubilee 2025 globally will open Christmas Eve, Dec. 24, at 7 p.m., with the rite of the opening of the Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican immediately before Pope Francis celebrates Midnight Mass. Holy Doors will also be opened at Rome’s three other major basilicas: St. John Lateran on Dec. 29; St. Mary Major on Jan. 1; and St. Paul’s Outside the Walls on Jan. 5.
A Holy Door will also be opened Dec. 26 at Rebibbia Prison, a Roman prison Pope Francis has visited twice before to celebrate Mass and wash inmates’ feet on Holy Thursday.
The doors represent the passage to salvation Jesus opened to humanity.