During their 2024 Summer General Meeting held in Maynooth, bishops welcomed Pope Francis’ message for the 2025 Jubilee Year entitled Spes non Confundit (Hope Does Not Disappoint). This Holy Year has as its theme ‘Pilgrims of Hope’, and it will be a year of prayerful hope for a world suffering the impacts of war, the ongoing effects of COVID-19 pandemic, and a climate crisis.
The Holy Year will follow the current 2024 Year of Prayer, wherein Pope Francis (pictured) has urged the faithful to pray for peace, especially amidst the wars in Ukraine, Israel, and Palestine. It will begin on Christmas Eve, 24 December, with the opening of the Holy Door of Saint Peter’s Basilica. Pope Francis is calling on all Catholics to renew in the hope of Christ, using Saint Paul the Apostle as a guide for this special year.
In each diocese, on 29 December next, bishops will celebrate Mass as the solemn opening of the Holy Year, and thereafter events will be organised locally, while specific jubilee projects will be proposed by Bishops’ Conference at the Autumn General Meeting in early October. A youth pilgrimage to Rome will take place this August, and details on the Holy Year are available on https://www.iubilaeum2025.va/it.html, and on the Jubilee App Iubilaeum25.
Plenary Indulgence for the Holy Year
A plenary indulgence is a special type of indulgence that, if all the requirements are met, removes all temporal punishment due to one’s sin. In May, details and conditions for the granting of Plenary Indulgence during the Holy Year were announced by the Holy See. Many pilgrimage locations have been designated internationally for pilgrims to avail of the opportunity of the indulgence. The main pilgrimage venues in Ireland are included and individual dioceses are to designate suitable local shrines and pilgrimage sites also.
ENDS
