What is the “2025 Jubilee” and how can we experience it?

The 2025 Jubilee invites us to a reconciliation with God, with others and with ourselves, as a path to both temporal and eternal happiness.

The 2025 Jubilee invites us to a reconciliation with God, with others and with ourselves, as a path to both temporal and eternal happiness.

The Christian Jubilee has its roots in the Jubilee celebrations of the people of Israel, recorded in chapter 25 of the Book of Leviticus. Debts are forgiven, lands are returned to their origin and freedom is restored to captives. It is a year of forgiveness and restoration.

The Catholic Church took up this tradition in the 14th century under the Papacy of Boniface VIII. In the year 1300 the first Christian Jubilee was proclaimed, calling for reconciliation and forgiveness of sins. Throughout the centuries its form and frequency have been modified, but its essence has remained the same. It is a time of grace, forgiveness, and spiritual renewal that God offers to all his children. The purpose? To attain that for which we were created: to enjoy the presence and love of God for all eternity.

Jubilee: God's merciful love:

“What happiness do we hope and long for? [...] We need a happiness that is definitively realized in that which makes us whole, or in other words, in love, so that we can now exclaim: I am loved, therefore I am, and I will exist forever in love that never disappoints and from which nothing and no one will ever be able to separate me”.

This is our hope. And the jubilee year offers us opportunities to prepare our hearts for this encounter:

• Indulgences cleanse the heart of that which prevents us from seeing and touching God because of the sin in our lives. The conditions for indulgences can be found on the Vatican website. 
• Pilgrimages to holy places, especially to the Holy Doors that are opened for this occasion in various sanctuaries around the world.
• To experience the sacraments with special awareness, especially the sacrament of Penance, through which we are reconciled with God, with others and with ourselves.
• To witness theological love and hope, especially with those most in need.

"The next Jubilee will therefore be a Holy Year marked by hope that does not fade, hope in God. May it also help us to regain the necessary confidence, both in the Church and in society, in human relationships, in international relations, in the promotion of the dignity of every human being and in respect for creation".

References:

1. Spes non confundit. Bula de convocación del Jubielo ordinario del año 2025. Pope Francis. May 9, 2024.
2. https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2024/05/13/0392/00808.html#es
3. Spes non confundit. Bula de convocación del Jubileo ordinario del año 2025. Pope Francis. May 9, 2024 25