Everything you need to know to live the Jubilee of Hope 2025

With the beginning of the Jubilee of Hope 2025, one of the most significant events of the Catholic Church that occurs only every 25 years, there are numerous questions that the faithful can ask themselves.

What can the Jubilee contribute to my life of faith? What is a Holy Door? What is a jubilee temple? How can you live if you don’t make a pilgrimage to Rome? We answer these and other questions that will help you understand the value and exceptional nature of this time of grace.

The relevance of a jubilee

Why is the jubilee such an important event for Catholics? The answer is simple: it offers an extraordinary opportunity to achieve salvation and experience that God’s holiness can transform us. In short, it is a gift that helps us reach Heaven.

Because? Because it makes available to the faithful all the facilities to obtain the “treasure” of the Church: the plenary indulgence, that which returns the soul to the state in which it was when receiving Baptism.

In conversation with ACI Prensa, Father Giuseppe Bonomo, Italian priest and parish priest of the Cathedral of Atri in Teramo, (Italy) —where there is a Holy Door instituted by Pope Saint Celestine V—, highlighted that the jubilee is also a unique time for “personal and community conversion.”

In fact, during each month of the year one or several jubilees of different characteristics are celebrated in Rome. In January, for example, is the Jubilee of the World of Communication, in February that of the Artists, in April that of the Adolescents, in May that of the Brotherhoods… You can check the calendar here.

Two indulgences in one day?

In the Sacrament of Penance the guilt of sin is eliminated. However, the temporal punishment required by divine justice remains. Indulgence “erases” the trace of sin and grants remission of all temporal punishment in purgatory, so if a person dies after receiving this gift, they go directly to Heaven.

The immense value and profound significance that this “treasure” contains makes it a privilege reserved for specific places and moments designated for its granting. This is where the greatness of the Jubilee Year lies, a time where the opportunities to obtain it multiply, even twice in one day!

Although there is a standard that can only be achieved one plenary indulgence a dayduring the Jubilee Year a second one can be obtained if it is done in favor of the souls in Purgatory. That is, the second will be applicable only to the deceased.

Requirements to obtain jubilee indulgence

To obtain a jubilee indulgence, it is important, first, to know how it is granted (the requirements) and where (the place or specific times). With the arrival of the Jubilee of Hope, the Vatican remembered the three conditions usual:

“All the truly repentant faithful, excluding all affection for sin and moved by a spirit of charity and who, in the course of the Holy Year, purified through the sacrament of penance and nourished by Holy Communion, pray for the intentions of the Supreme Pontiff ”. That is: confess, receive the Body of Christ and pray for Pope Francis.

How can you experience Jubilee 2025 if you do not make a pilgrimage to Rome?

During the year 2025, Catholics will be able to obtain indulgence on pilgrimages to any jubilee holy placethose churches designated for it. In Rome, in addition to the four main basilicas, there are other 13 iglesias.

The Eternal City is undoubtedly the center of Jubilee 2025 and during the year it expects to receive 30 million people. However, if one cannot make the pilgrimage to Rome, there are many other ways to obtain the indulgence and experience a true conversion and strengthening of faith.

Father Giuseppe Bonomo explained to ACI Prensa that every Catholic who wishes can do so in their own city. To do this, he indicated, “you should ask your bishop how many temples there are in your diocese” with these characteristics. “There are many jubilee churches! And of course you can obtain plenary indulgence in these temples,” he said.

You can also get it if you visit sacred places, such as Marian shrines or other basilicas. You can consult here what are they.

Likewise, it can be received when carrying out works of Mercy and penitencesuch as visiting those who are in need or difficulty (the sick, imprisoned, lonely elderly, etc.).

Even by abstaining, at least for a day, from “banal distractions”, such as social networks and “superfluous consumption”. In addition, those who cannot participate in the pilgrimages for “serious reasons” will be able to win it if they recite “the Lord’s Prayer, the profession of faith (Creed) in any legitimate form and other prayers in accordance with the purposes of the Holy Year, offering their sufferings or difficulties of one’s own life.

What is a Holy Door and how many are there in the world?

Pope Francis officially inaugurated the Jubilee of Hope 2025 with the opening of the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica on December 24. Passage through a Holy Door during the Jubilee symbolizes the entry into a new life in Christ and the beginning of a path of conversion.

Father Bonomo specified that the Holy Doors “may be permanent or not.” Only 9 in the world are included in the first category: “The most famous is that of Saint Peter in the Vatican, followed by those of the three major basilicas in Rome: Saint John Lateran, Saint Paul Outside the Walls and Saint Mary Major. ”.

“But there are also others outside Rome, such as the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela (Spain), the Basilica of Santa María de Collemaggio in L’Aquila (Italy), the Basilica-Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Québec (Canada), the cathedral of Atri (Italy) and the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in New Delhi (India),” he added.

Furthermore, the Italian priest explained that “the basilicas with permanent holy doors have their own statutes.” For example, “the Basilica of Atri opens every year, from August 14 to 22, while those in Rome only when the year is jubilee,” he continued.

In the case of Santiago de Compostela, the Holy Year occurs when July 25, the day of the saint’s festival, falls on a Sunday. During that year, a plenary indulgence can be obtained in the cathedral.

The “non-permanent” Holy Doors

On the other hand, non-permanent ones are those that are only opened for a specific Jubilee Year. This is what happened on December 26, when for the first time in the jubilee tradition, Pope Francis opened a Holy Door in the Rebibbia prison, located on the outskirts of Rome.

Ten years ago, during his trip to the Central African Republic, Pope Francis opened the Holy Door of the Bangui Cathedral, a gesture made shortly after the start of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy to encourage “peace in this country and the world.” . Furthermore, on December 18 of that year, the Holy Door of Charity opened in a reception center in Termini (Rome).

During the Extraordinary Jubilee of 2015, Pope Francis granted the opening of the Holy Door also in cathedral churches and allowed dioceses to establish Holy Doors. Something that, however, will not happen in 2025, since this year the rules of the ordinary jubilee and not the extraordinary one are followed.