Jubilee Year of Hope

The 2025^th Year of Our Lord has been proclaimed as the Jubilee Year of Hope. Jubilee Years are religious events that call for conversions and bring joy from the grace and peace given to us by Our Lord. Jubilee Years also provide extraordinary opportunities to gain plenary indulgences.

Jubilee Years are found in the Old Testament; In Leviticus, the Israelites were called to celebrate a Jubilee every 50^th year, after a cycle of seven sets of seven years. The practice of Jubilee Years was also familiar to writers in the middle ages and some trace the first Jubilee proclamation to Pope Boniface VIII in 1300. For centuries, the launch of Jubilee Years has been marked by the opening of pilgrimage doors in Rome that pilgrims enter through. The frequency of Jubilee Years has changed over the years and extraordinary Jubilees have been called for in times of calamity.

In 2025, those unable to travel to Rome will have other ways to earn a plenary indulgence and unite themselves to this event. The Apostolic Penitentiary lists the following as ways to earn a the Jubilee indulgence: pilgrimages, pious visits to sacred places, and works of mercy and penance.

Pilgrimage Sites:

Any Sacred Jubilee Site; Pilgrims can piously participate in Mass, the Divine Office, the Stations of the Cross, or the Rosary
Rome; Pilgrims can visit one of the 4 Major Papal Basilicas
Holy Land; Pilgrims can visit one of the 3 Basilicas: Holy Sepulchre, Nativity, or Annunciation
In Other Ecclesiastical Areas; Pilgrims can visit a Sacred place designated by the local ordinary

In the Archdiocese of Galveston Houston, St. Mary’s Cathedral in Galveston and The Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Houston will be pilgrimage sites.

Those Confined to Their Homes:

The faithful who are truly repentant of sin but cannot participate for serious reasons (cloistered religious, elderly, sick, prisoners, caretakers), can obtain the Jubilee Indulgence, under the same conditions if, united in spirit with the faithful taking part in person, they recite the Our Father, the Profession of Faith, and other prayers in conformity with the objectives of the Holy Year, in their homes or wherever they are confined offering up their sufferings or the hardships of their lives.

The usual conditions to gain an indulgence remain, though certain acts will allow for more than one indulgence to be gained per day. (See the penitentiary for conditions.)

Resources:

To view the full list of ways to gain an indulgence, click here.
To learn more about Jubilee Years, click here.
To read about archdiocesan celebrations and see their resources, click here.
To read more about celebrations in Rome, click here.