Jubilee 2025: Pilgrims of Hope
2025 is the Jubilee Holy Year, the 2,025th anniversary of the Incarnation of our Lord, an “event of great spiritual, ecclesial, and social significance in the life of the Church.” The concept of “Jubilee” has its origins in the Book of Leviticus (chapter 25) as a special year of reconciliation, pilgrimage, and coming home. Pope Francis has designated the 2025 Holy Year as a time to renew ourselves as “Pilgrims of Hope.”
“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 far-sighted vision. The forthcoming Jubilee can contribute greatly to restoring a climate of hope and trust as a prelude to the renewal and rebirth that we so urgently desire; that is why I have chosen as the motto of the Jubilee, Pilgrims of Hope. This will indeed be the case if we are capable of recovering a sense of universal fraternity and refuse to turn a blind eye to the tragedy of rampant poverty that prevents millions of men, women, young people and children from living in a manner worthy of our human dignity.”
– Pope Francis, Letter for the Promotion of the New Evangelization for the Jubilee 2025
The Most Rev. Joseph C. Bambera, Bishop of Scranton, has named eight churches in the diocese as pilgrimage sites for the Jubilee Holy Year 2025.
The pilgrimage sites include: Cathedral of Saint Peter, Scranton; Saint Ann Basilica, Scranton; Saint Augustine Church, Brackney; Saint Boniface Church, Williamsport; Saint Gabriel Church, Hazleton; Saint John the Evangelist Church, Honesdale; Saint Nicholas Church, Wilkes-Barre; and Saint Matthew Church, East Stroudsburg.
The designation, aimed at deepening the spiritual experience of Catholics, is part of the broader, global observance of the Jubilee Year, which takes place every 25 years.
The pilgrimage sites will be places where the faithful are urged to visit, pray, and participate in liturgies and events throughout the Jubilee Year. Jubilee Year indulgences are also available for pilgrims who undertake a pious pilgrimage to any designated jubilee site.
In addition to designated jubilee pilgrimage sites in Rome and the Holy Land, Pope Francis announced that cathedrals in ecclesiastical areas would serve as local pilgrimage sites, along with any other sacred places chosen by the local bishop.
The Jubilee Year will conclude in the Diocese of Scranton and other local dioceses on the Feast of the Holy Family Dec. 28, and in Rome on Jan. 6, 2026.
Bishop Bambera held local Opening Mass for ‘Jubilee Year of Hope’ on Dec. 29
On Dec. 29, 2024, a special Mass was held locally by Bishop Joseph C. Bambera, to mark the opening of the 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope.
The Mass, which took 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 opened Christmas Eve, Dec. 24 with the rite of the opening of the Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican immediately before Pope Francis celebrated Midnight Mass. Holy Doors also 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 was also 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.