What is a Jubilee?

A Jubilee is a special year of prayer. Jubilees are times for forgiveness, reconciliation, and pilgrimage and are a part of the Catholic tradition. Jubilees ordinarily take place every twenty-five years.

When does this Jubilee begin?

Pope Francis formally opened the Holy Doors at St. Peter’s Basilica on December 24, 2024. Locally, our observance of the Jubilee will begin on December 29, 2024.

What is the theme of Jubilee 2025?

The theme of Jubilee 2025 is Pilgrims of Hope.

“Everyone knows what it is to hope. In the heart of each person, hope dwells as the desire and expectation of good things to come, despite our not knowing what the future may bring...For all of us, may the Jubilee be an opportunity to be renewed in hope.”

-Pope Francis

What are ways to observe the Jubilee?

During the Jubilee, millions of people are expected to make a pilgrimage to Rome to walk through the Holy Doors at one of the four major basilicas. For those unable to travel to Rome, there are many other ways to participate in the Jubilee, through pilgrimage, prayer, and service.

What is the Jubilee indulgence?

Pope Francis has announced an indulgence is available to the faithful during the jubilee year. The indulgence, he explained, would be “a way of discovering the unlimited nature of God’s mercy.” A plenary indulgence is a grace granted by the Catholic Church through the merits of Jesus Christ to remove the temporal punishment due to sin.

• The conditions necessary for a Jubilee indulgence include:
   
• Being in a state of grace and disposed to receive the indulgence
• Having confessed one’s sins sacramentally
• Receiving Holy Communion
• Offering prayers for the Holy Father and his intentions
• If able, make a pilgrimage to a designated Jubilee pilgrim site, such as Houston’s Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart or St. Mary Cathedral Basilica in Galveston
• Learn more about the norms for indulgences during the Jubilee Year, which include pilgrimage, penance and service

How can I celebrate the Jubilee locally?

For those who cannot travel to Rome, there are two pilgrim sites for the Jubilee Year for Catholics in and visiting the Archdiocese as special places of prayer for local pilgrims, offering Holy Year opportunities for reconciliation, indulgences and other events intended to strengthen and revive faith.

St. Mary Cathedral Basilica
2011 Church St., Galveston
409-762-9646 - Website

Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart
1111 St. Joseph Pkwy., Houston
713-659-1561 - Website

• Unlike the practice in the Year of Mercy, diocesan cathedrals are not designated with their own holy doors during the Jubilee.

Jubilees Throughout History

In the Catholic Church, the concept of Jubilee or 'Holy Year' was used to declare special years for forgiveness and reconciliation. The first Jubilee was declared by Pope Boniface VII on Feb. 22, 1300 (Feast of the Chair of St. Peter), to mark the beginning of that century. He later recommended it occurring every 100 years. Learn more here.

The Jubilee Logo

To learn about the meaning of the logo for the 2025 Jubilee, click here.

Jubilee 2025 Calendar

This 2025 calendar of events includes a one-page overview of the Holy Year moments followed by several pages of anticipated detailed schedules for each Jubilee celebration in Rome, which can be replicated or adapted at the discretion of each local community.

Spes Non Confundit - Bull of Indiction

On Thursday, May 9, the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord, Pope Francis officially proclaimed the Ordinary Jubilee of 2025 with the public reading and delivery of Spes Non Confundit, the Bull of Indiction for the Holy Year, in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican.

Click here for a newsletter with some helpful information on the Bull.

Jubilee Prayer

Father in heaven, may the faith you have gifted us in your son Jesus Christ, our brother,

and the flame of charity kindled in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, reawaken in us, the blessed hope

for the coming of your Kingdom. View entire prayer

Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston Jubilee Resources

USCCB Jubilee Resources

Official Vatican Jubilee Website