Pope Francis has declared that the year 2025 will be a Holy Year of Jubilee for the Catholic Church - an event that takes place once every 25 years.

The theme for the 2025 Jubilee is "Pilgrims of Hope", an invitation to showcase the hope of our Christian faith to people right across the world at a time when there is so much suffering from the impact of war, poverty, climate change and the lasting effects of the COVID pandemic.

The Pilgrims of Hope Jubilee presents each one of us with an opportunity to reignite the flame of our faith in our own hearts and to share the light of that faith with those in darkness.

What is a Jubilee?

The concept of Jubilee is one rooted in the earliest days of Judeo-Christian tradition.

In the Book of Leviticus, we read that the people of Israel celebrated this tradition every 50 years.

Its purpose was to re-establish a proper relationship with God, with one another, and with all of creation. It involved the forgiveness of debts, the return of misappropriated land, and a fallow period in the fields.

Today the Catholic Church celebrates his tradition every 25 years as a year of grace, offering the faithful the opportunity to renew faith through prayer, pilgrimage, acts of charity, and by asking for a plenary indulgence - a special grace that strengthens our wounded souls in the fight against sin.