Year of Jubilee 2025
What is a Jubilee Year?
In the Catholic Church, a Jubilee or Holy Year is a special year of forgiveness and reconciliation in which people are invited to grow in their relationship with God, with one another and with all of creation.
How often is a Jubilee Year?
A Jubilee Year is celebrated by the Church every 25 years. This has been the case since 1470 when Pope Paul II changed it from every 50 years.
What is the theme of the Jubilee Year in 2025?
The theme is Pilgrims of Hope. Pope Francis has invited Catholics to renew our hope and discover a vision that can ‘restore access to the fruits of the earth to everyone’. We are also invited to rediscover a spirituality of God’s creation in which we understand ourselves as ‘pilgrims on the earth’ rather than masters of the world.
When does the Jubilee Year start and finish?
The 2025 Jubilee Year begins on Christmas Eve 2024 and concludes on 6 January 2026. Pope Francis has declared that every Catholic cathedral around the world should offer Mass on 29 Dec 2024 so that local communities can participate.
In our Diocese, this Mass will be held at St. Chad’s and celebrated by Archbishop Bernard at 11.30am.
When will the Jubilee Year be launched in schools?
Friday 24th January 2025 will see the Jubilee Year being launched in school when all the schools in the Archdiocese will come together through a virtual assembly.
Jubilee 2025 - Pilgrims of Hope
Jubilee Churches and Sites within the Archdiocese of Birmingham
The following Jubilee Churches and sites have been chosen by His Grace, Archbishop Bernard as particular places of pilgrimage:
St Chad’s Cathedral – Shrine of St Chad
St Anne’s Church, Caversham – Shrine of Our Lady of Caversham
Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Hednesford – Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes
St Michael’s Church, Penn, Wolverhampton – Shrine of Blessed Carlo Acutis
The Immaculate Conception & St Egwin Church – Shrine of Our Lady of Evesham
Harvington Hall near Kidderminster
Bl. Dominic Barberi Church & St John Henry Newman College, Littlemore, Oxford
Could you plan a family visit this year?