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What is a Jubilee Year?

You have probably heard the term “Jubilee Year,” but what does it mean and how can you participate in the 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope?

A Jubilee Year is a special time of grace that encourages us to re-center our lives around Christ. Placing a heightened focus on repentance, a Jubilee Year invites us to turn away from sin, restore relationships with God and one another, and strive for holiness and perfection. 

While the jubilee finds its biblical roots in Leviticus 25, the first official Jubilee Year was established in 1300 under Pope Boniface VIII’s reign. Today, we celebrate jubilees every 25 years in addition to occasional “extraordinary” jubilees, such as Pope Francis’ Year of Mercy in 2015. 

Reflecting on the power of the Jubilee Year, Gerard Hall, the director of Divine Worship for the Diocese of Green Bay, said that “it is a time of pilgrimage, it’s a time of repentance, it’s a time of forgiveness, it’s a time of healing.”

“It’s everything we are as a Church, but it’s an emphasized way of doing it,” he added.  

Along with its emphasis on spiritual growth and holiness, the Jubilee Year also provides us with the opportunity to receive a plenary indulgence, which removes our temporal punishment for sin. 

This year, we celebrate the Jubilee Year of Hope, which encourages us to turn our hearts toward Christ, trust in him and rely on his grace to bring us to eternal salvation. 

“It gives us a touch to look at ourselves. Any jubilee we celebrate, it’s to look back on what we’ve done, to celebrate it and then to move us forward,” said Hall. 

All are encouraged to participate in this special year of grace, and a wide range of opportunities will be available for the people of the diocese to celebrate and receive a plenary indulgence. 

“There will be places where you will be able to pilgrimage, to make a holy hour, to go to the sacrament of confession, help the poor,” said Hall. “There are many ways to get an indulgence. That’s what everyone hopes for. So for the person that sits in the pew, the hope is to get the jubilee indulgence.”

While there are an abundance of opportunities to participate in the Jubilee Year locally, there are also liturgical ceremonies that take place at the Vatican throughout the year. You are probably familiar with the popular jubilee tradition of the opening of the Holy Doors. Pope Francis began the Jubilee Year opening the Holy Doors of St. Peter’s Basilica on Dec. 24, 2024. 

To discover the ways you can participate in the 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope, use the link here: www.usccb.org/jubilee2025 

Maria Foss is marketing coordinator for the Office of Communications and Marketing for the Diocese of Green Bay.

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