Pope Francis declared that Christmas Eve will initiate the beginning of the Jubilee Year of 2025. But what is a Jubilee Year? And why 2025?
A “Jubilee Year” is rooted in Scripture. The Book of Leviticus declared what the people of Israel would “count seven times of seven years” (49 years), and the year after that, the 50th year “…you shall treat as sacred. You shall proclaim liberty in the land for all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, when each of you shall return to your own property, each of you to your own family” (Lev. 25:10). Thus it was a special year that involved forgiving of all debts and freeing of slaves (many slaves in that time were themselves something like “indentured servants” who became slaves precisely to work off debts they couldn’t pay).
In 1300s, the Catholic Church began to officially began to declare regular “Jubilee Years” once again but decided to celebrate every 25 years instead of every 50. Ever since then, the Church has celebrated a Jubilee year, every 25 years making 2025 the next “ordinary” (regularly scheduled) Jubilee Year. A Jubilee can be “ordinary” if it falls after the set period of years (every 25 years), and “extraordinary” when it is proclaimed for some outstanding event. There have been twenty-six “ordinary” Holy Years so far: the Year 2025 will be the 27th. There have been three extraordinary jubilees in this past century: 1933 proclaimed by Pope Pius XI to mark the 1900th anniversary of Redemption. 1983 proclaimed by Pope John Paul II to mark 1950 years since the Redemption carried out by Christ through his Death and Resurrection in the year 33. And in 2015-2016 Pope Francis declared an Extraordinary Jubilee “Year of Mercy.” As the Pope himself says, “The Holy Year of 2025 is itself in continuity with preceding celebrations of grace. In the last Ordinary Jubilee, we crossed the threshold of two millennia from the birth of Jesus Christ. Then, on 13 March 2015, I proclaimed an Extraordinary Jubilee for the sake of making known and encouraging an encounter with the “merciful face of God”, the core message of the Gospel for every man and woman of every time and place. Now the time has come for a new Jubilee,” (Spes Non Confundit, 6).
Jubilee years, then, emphasize the importance of extending mercy to others (forgiveness of debts, etc.) and receiving God’s mercy (in the Sacrament of Reconciliation). There is also an element of pilgrimage that is emphasized in this Holy Year.
Lastly, this particularly Jubilee Year of 2025, Pope Francis is emphasizing the theme of Hope. On May 9, 2024, Pope Francis formally declared the 2025 Jubilee Year in a declaration titled “Spes Non Confundi,” which means, “hope does not disappoint.” (see Rom. 5:5). I will speak more of these elements of mercy, pilgrimage, and hope in upcoming bulletin columns, as we enter into this Jubilee Year.
Peace,
-Fr. Kevin
