The 2025 Jubilee Year
A Jubilee Year (or Holy Year) is traditionally proclaimed every 25 years. It is a year set aside to encourage the faithful to embark on pilgrimages, to repent their sins and forgive the sins of others, and to renew their spiritual life. In the Hebrew tradition, as recorded in Leviticus, a Jubilee was celebrated every 50 years with the freeing of slaves and the forgiveness of debts. In 1300, Pope Boniface VIII instituted the first Christian Jubilee, and since then the Church has designated each new Jubilee as a special year of grace and forgiveness, offering the faithful an opportunity to obtain a plenary indulgence.
The 2025 Jubilee will be centred on the theme “Pilgrims of Hope”. As Pope Francis expressed it:
"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 Jubilee begins on 24 December 2024, with the Opening of the Holy Door of Saint Peter’s Basilica, and runs to 6 January 2026, the Feast of the Epiphany, with the Closing of the Holy Door.
Within Broken Bay, we are called to celebrate this Jubilee Year with “deep faith, lively hope and active charity”.
Broken Bay is planning three diocesan “Jubilee Shrines of Hope” which will be places of pilgrimage, worship, prayer, and hope for the people of Broken Bay during the Jubilee Year.
These shrines are:
- The Parish of Gosford with a relic of Saint John Paul II will be a Shrine of Hope for families.
- The Parish of Chatswood with a relic of Blessed Carlo Acutis will be a Shrine of Hope for young people.
- The Parish of Manly Freshwater with a relic of Saint John Vianney will be a Shrine of Hope for priests and vocations.
The 2025 Jubilee Year is an opportunity to explore the many different ways that we, as a community, can participate as Pilgrims of Hope.
Introduction to Jubilee 2025
The Jubilee Prayer (PDF 463.3KB)
Bull of Indiction of The Ordinary Jubilee of The Year 2025 (PDF 159.3KB)
The 2025 Jubilee Year at the Vatican