Francis, assured that the epidemic can be overcome, specifies that the next Jubilee will greatly favor “the recomposition of a climate of hope and trust.” This is why the theme chosen is “Pilgrims of Hope.”
For this, explained the sovereign pontiff, it is necessary to rediscover the sense of universal fraternity. That is to say not to turn a blind eye to the growing poverty, in particular that which affects the many refugees who have abandoned their lands, and to share with everyone, including the poorest, “the discoveries of science and the necessary medicines” against this epidemic.
The “spiritual dimension of the Jubilee, which invites confession, must be combined with the fundamental aspects of social life,” Francis continued. And pointed to the protection of Creation and the care of our common home as being “an essential expression of faith in God and obedience to His will.”
The Holy Father urges the dicastery to make this “moment of grace a significant stage for the pastoral care of the particular Churches, Latin and Eastern, which, during these years, are called to intensify their synodal commitment.”
The pope will later publish the bull of indiction for the Jubilee of 2025. This will specify the opening and concluding dates, the conditions, and the intentions.
The first Holy Year was instituted by Pope Boniface VIII in 1300. Originally celebrated every 100 years, then 50 years, the Jubilees now follow one another every 25 years. There are also extraordinary Jubilees, the latest being that of the Year of Mercy in 2016, decided by the Argentine sovereign pontiff to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the closure of the Second Vatican Council.
If this Holy Year 2025 does not intend to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Vatican II which would have broken down the “walls” in which the Church was enclosed, nevertheless Francis inscribes this jubilee in the continuity of Vatican II, through all the subjects which are dear to him: immigration, ecology, synodality, etc.
The Holy See announced on December 26 that Pope Francis has entrusted the preparation for the Holy Year 2025 to the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization. On February 11, 2022, in a letter addressed to Msgr. Rino Fisichella, president of the dicastery, the Pope has given him “the responsibility of finding the appropriate forms so that the Holy Year can be prepared and celebrated with intense faith, lively hope, and active charity.”