"God acts, even when we do not immediately see the results," the pope wrote to pilgrims from the Czech Republic. "The history of your saints teaches us this: think of the perseverance of John of Nepomuk and many other witnesses of faith in your land."

In a message sent March 29 to some 2,000 participants in the Czech national jubilee pilgrimage, Pope Francis reflected on the country's deep Christian roots and the enduring legacy of saints such as Sts. Adalbert, Cyril and Methodius.

He praised the pilgrims' journey to Rome as a "concrete sign" of their desire to renew their faith, strengthen their bond with the successor of Peter and "joyfully profess your adherence to the Lord, who always walks with us."

"He supports us in trials and calls us to be witnesses of his peace and love," the pope wrote. "He is faithful to his promises, and therefore hope does not disappoint!"

The pope encouraged the pilgrims to take inspiration from their saints, who "carried the light of the Gospel with courage and patience, even to places where it seemed impossible." Their example, the pope's message said, "teaches us that the Christian mission is not based on visible results, but on fidelity to God."

"God asks us to offer the little that we are and have," he wrote, invoking the Gospel image of the five loaves and two fish. "If we entrust it to the Lord with a generous heart, he will multiply it and make it fruitful in ways we cannot even imagine."

Calling for a shared journey of faith between pastors and people, Pope Francis invited the Czech pilgrims to be "witnesses of peace and hope in a world that so greatly needs it -- including in Europe."

"Our faith is not only for ourselves," he wrote, "but it is a gift to be shared joyfully."

The pope also offered a message to some 1,700 pilgrims from the Diocese of Rieti in central Italy March 29, expressing hope that their visit to the tombs of Sts. Peter and Paul and passage through the Holy Door would "help you to understand and welcome ever more the love of God, source and reason of true joy."

"To the weakest and most in need, we are called to bear witness to this love that, like a living flame, gives strength to the journey of life," he wrote.

He encouraged the faithful of Rieti to be "witnesses of hope every day, in the different ecclesial and existential settings where you live, in order to contribute to building a more fraternal and supportive world."

— Justin McLellan, Catholic News Service

Raising our minds toward God

Windows done by Laws Stained Glass Studios in Statesville pay homage to the patroness of St. Therese Church in Mooresville. (Photos by Troy C. Hull)STATESVILLE — A small family-owned business without Catholic traditions but with deep Southern roots has inspired parishioners across the Diocese of Charlotte with the sacred art of stained glass. Stained-glass companies from around the world have worked in the diocese, but one close to home has designed, repaired and installed stained-glass windows for nearly two dozen parishes and Catholic schools.

From Holy Infant Church in Reidsville to the historic St. Lawrence Basilica in Asheville to Our Lady of the Assumption Church in Charlotte, Laws Stained Glass Studios in Statesville has been gracing the diocese with its works of art for 79 years.

The ancient artform is so omnipresent across the diocese one would be hard-pressed to find a church without it. At St. Therese Church in Mooresville, the kaleidoscope of multicolored beams that shine through the stained glass is just one example of Laws’ work.

During Mass at St. Therese, red and purple triangles dance onto the faces of parishioners as they sing or pray – a reminder they are in a sacred place. This same scene has played out in Catholic churches since the 7th century, when the art form is said to have begun, and thanks to small fine-glass companies, it continues to survive and thrive.

“There was a time that not everybody could read, not everybody had a Bible, but you could go into a church and you could learn your catechism and your scriptural stories, and learn about the saints by looking at stained-glass windows,” says Father Mark Lawlor, St. Therese’s pastor. “They add to the beauty as well as to the art. They play a valuable role in teaching and devotion.”

The late Jack Laws founded his stained-glass company in 1946, and decades later, the business remains a family affair with Jack’s daughter, son and grandsons running the office, overseeing sales, or cutting and designing stained glass alongside 40 other glass crafters and artists. The company creates and installs about 100 works annually for churches of all faiths across the country. Even before the Diocese of Charlotte was established in 1972, a relationship was forged: Laws installed stained glass in steel frames at St. Stephen Church in Elkin in 1955.

In Albemarle, parishioners Don and Nancy Barker are inspired by the glasswork the Laws studio installed at their church, Our Lady of the Annunciation, in 1971.

“The stained glass is gorgeous and full of color. When the sun comes on it and lights it all up, it is absolutely beautiful,” says Nancy Barker, a parishioner for 19 years.

The church’s windows depict the Stations of the Cross.

“You can have a very intimate connection with our stained-glass because they are the Stations of the Cross,” Barker says. “A lot of people stand in front of each depiction, one window at a time, and say prayers during Adoration. It is a quiet meditation.”

Debbie Coyler displays one of Laws’ hand-painted clear glass inserts of Jesus. (Photo by Lisa Geraci | Catholic New Herald)

Painting saints and angels

Despite technological advancements – electric kilns, computer blueprints and aluminum frames – the process of creating this sacred art remains largely unchanged. At Laws, each intricate window takes two weeks or more to complete.

The process begins with Chief Artist Nina Haynes sketching life-size designs on paper in charcoal pencil. In her dimly lit studio lined with sketches, Haynes spends hours hand-painting saints, angels and the Holy Family on pieces of clear glass – artistry that will live on for generations.

After 48 years, she can’t pick a favorite:

“They are all my favorite,” she says, “every single one.”

The glass pieces are fired at 1,200 degrees in an electric kiln, sometimes once, sometimes five times, depending on how many layers of paint Haynes has added for a variety of desired effects. The pieces are waterproofed with a glaze, then they’re off to a drying rack.

When the glass is ready, Jack Laws’ grandsons Eythan and Caleb lay the pieces out on the table as if to assemble a jigsaw puzzle. They bind the pieces together with lead strips. Soon, the work is ready to be shipped across the country – or the world.

  Chief Artist Nina Haynes hand paints a depiction of the baptism of Jesus. These glass inserts will later be placed in the middle of larger stained-glass designs.

Humble beginnings

Born and raised in Iredell County, Jack Laws picked cotton as a young man, then went West in search of opportunity. He worked on the Hoover Dam, then landed a job in St. Louis installing windows – which led to an apprenticeship in stained-glass work.

His daughter Debbie Colyer remembers him saying one day: “We got to go back home because that is where the Bible Belt is. There is a little country church on every corner.”

He opened his studio in Statesville a year after serving in World War II, and demand grew steadily as the region’s population did. The rise of Catholicism in the South – and a resulting church construction boom – helped fuel his business, just as his business helped fuel inspiration.

Laws isn’t the only such artisan company in Statesville. The town also is home to Statesville Stained Glass Co., which has been in operation for nearly 50 years and served at least 17 Catholic churches in the diocese.

“Stained-glass windows bring tranquility,” says Father Peter Ascik, who enjoys gazing at the angel Gabriel speaking to Mary in a stained-glass pictorial of the Annunciation at his church. He is pastor of St. Mary Help of Christians, in Shelby, where the Laws’ artwork adorns the back wall.

“Stained glass makes a building feel like a church. They make it feel like a sacred space,” Ascik says. “The artistry and craftsmanship are beautiful. The effect of transforming natural light into color images helps to raise our minds to God. The images help us contemplate the mysteries of the faith and God and the saints.”

Caleb Laws uses lead to bind together pieces of opalescent glass. God’s hand at work

Laws has fulfilled orders from as far away as Korea, American Samoa and the Cayman Islands. Usually the masterpieces are carefully cushioned in Styrofoam and sent off, but some clients prefer on-site installation, including “The House on the Rock” in Lagos, Nigeria.

“We packed a shipping container and then flew two of our guys out there for installation,” says Colyer, who is the office manager.

The work, she says, is long and difficult and sometimes unpredictably busy or slow – but it’s a priceless way of life.

“The churches aren’t like they used to be,” Colyer says. “They have become more like concert halls and auditoriums and movie theaters – so they are not getting stained-glass.”

But as the industry evolves, for every opportunity lost, she says, God provides a new opportunity. Laws has endured innumerable trials – from financial challenges, to family illness, to a devastating fire, to the death of Jack Laws and his wife Helen. Yet the family remains hopeful and inspired.

The fire, in particular, tested them. The studio burned to the ground in 1991, but the resilient Law family moved operations into a shed until the new shop could be built. Recovering from the devastation deepened the Laws family’s faith – in their business and in God.

“There have been a lot of ups and downs over the years, and if it wasn’t for God we wouldn’t be here,” Colyer says. “I think God has had a hand in this all along.”

Eythan and Caleb Laws feel God’s hand as they install the colorful artwork.

“You can get numb to it in the studio, but when you hang up a new piece of glass, you don’t realize how much more it looks like a church,” Caleb Laws says. “It really changes the atmosphere.”

For Colyer, she believes – and hopes – that “what we do brings people to God.”

Indeed, at St. Francis of Assisi Church in Lenoir, the windows transfix and transport parishioners spiritually.

“Our stained-glass windows remind us when we go into the church that we are entering a heavenly realm,” says Father Alfonso Gamez, pastor.

The church’s eight windows depicting Franciscan saints are situated low in the church so the saints appear to be among the people. The windows date to 1939 and were moved, under the careful guidance of Laws, from the original church to the new church in 2001.

“They provide beauty and inspiration,” Father Gamez says, “and the saints depicted come from all over the world, reflecting the great diversity of the Church.”

— Lisa Geraci. Photos and video by Troy C. Hull

Laws Stained Glass Studios clients

Petals showering down in the stained-glass design honor her name as “The Little Flower.”Our Lady of the Annunciation Church, Albemarle
St. Barnabas Church, Arden
St. Lawrence Basilica, Asheville
Mary Help of Christians Basilica, Belmont
Charlotte Catholic High School, Charlotte
Our Lady of the Assumption Church, Charlotte
St. John Neumann Church, Charlotte
St. Matthew Church, Charlotte
St. Vincent de Paul Church, Charlotte
St. Patrick School, Charlotte
St. Stephen Church, Elkin
Immaculate Conception Church, Hendersonville
St. Francis of Assisi Church, Lenoir
St. Dorothy Church, Lincolnton
Our Lady of the Angels Church, Marion
St. Therese Church, Mooresville
St. Charles Borromeo Church, Morganton
Holy Infant Church, Reidsville
St. Mary Help of Christians Church, Shelby
St. Philip the Apostle Church, Statesville
Holy Trinity, Taylorsville
St. John the Baptist Church, Tryon

The Jubilee Year 2025: “Pilgrims of Hope” was formally inaugurated by Pope Francis on Christmas Eve as he opened the Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. The tradition of a Holy Year – or jubilee - is based on the Old Testament concept of a year of rest, forgiveness and renewal. During holy years, Catholics make pilgrimages to designated churches and shrines, recite special prayers, go to confession and receive Holy Communion to receive a plenary indulgence, which is a remission of the temporal punishment due for one’s sins.

Bishop Michael Martin was originally scheduled to celebrate the diocese’s three Jubilee Masses but could not because of illness. Priests stepped in to take his place and called on the faithful to embark on the Jubilee Year with hearts focused on trusting and loving God.

The liturgies coincided with the Feast of the Holy Family, and the theme of God’s Church as a family carried through much of the weekend.

Asheville opens Jubilee Year

At St. Lawrence Basilica in Asheville, 450 people attended the Dec. 28 Jubilee Mass in the historic church’s splendid sanctuary, further bedecked with red and white poinsettias.

Monsignor Roger Arnsparger started the Mass with a prayer at the Basilica’s front doors and then blessed the congregation with holy water.

He reminded the congregation that they are not only members of their own families but are part of the larger family of the Diocese of Charlotte and the worldwide Church.

“You’ve made a pilgrimage here to celebrate the most sacred mysteries as we, God’s holy family, get ready for this Jubilee Year of multiple graces” he said, emphasizing, “the profound changes that will be ours, the positive growth in virtue that’s going to happen as we tend our souls. Every step that we take in this journey through the year will be important for us.”

Father Arnsparger said Jubilee years offer Catholics a special chance to commit not only to their own spiritual growth but to sharing God’s love.

“Let’s thank the Lord for the wonderful privilege to be able to assist each other in this great gift of building up our family and inviting others on the way to show them there’s a plan and a purpose” he said. “The joy of the Gospel, which is the joy of our lives, calls us to this wonderful pilgrimage.”

Renewing hope in Greensboro

Father David McCanless, chaplain at Wake Forest University, opened the Jubilee year with a full house at St. Pius X in Greensboro on Dec. 29.

He began at the front door to suggest a new beginning and welcomed people to the once-every-25-year-occasion, with its promise of forgiveness.

“I reminded people that this is a chance for us to perceive a new relationship with Jesus,” he said. “Part of what we’ll focus on is renewing our own hope, whether we need God’s mercy or confession, and on the other side of the coin, we will be giving hope to others through acts such as feeding the hungry and visiting the lonely.”

Sharing the message in Huntersville

Close to 1,000 people attended the 5 p.m. Jubilee Mass at St. Mark’s in Huntersville on Dec. 29. They gathered outside before Mass to listen to prayers read by celebrant Father Chinonso Nnebe-Agumadu, parochial vicar, then processed into the church to the joyful tones of the Christmas carol, “O Come All Ye Faithful.”

The choir at St. Mark performed the official Jubilee Year hymn, which offers simple lyrics speaking of hope, faith and a commitment to follow Christ: “Like a flame my hope is burning, may my song arise to you. Source of life that has no ending, on life’s path I trust in you.”

Father Nnebe-Agumadu’s homily offered the Holy Family as examples of how people can embrace the year’s theme.

“The Holy Family we celebrate today are pilgrims of hope…travelers throughout their lives clinging on to God’s promise,” he said. “We seek the intercession of the Holy Family today that through the pain they suffered in their own journey that they would accompany us in the journey of hope, of faith, of love, and ultimately that they would accompany us on the journey we are making to eternity.”

He reminded the congregation that the Jubilee Year offers a chance and a duty for people to share their jubilee message as “tangible signs of hope to the prisoner, to the sick, to migrants, to the elderly.”

Hope speaks to our world

The theme of hope was important to many in the pews.

“It is so easy to get lost in the daily avalanche of bad news, lose hope and even get into despair,” said Wojtek Lachowski, a parishioner at St. Mark. “But the Jubilee Year compels us to reflect and refocus on what is most important in our lives – the relationship with our savior Jesus Christ.”

Brad and Laura Olson, parishioners at St. Lawrence, felt a connection to history in experiencing a Jubilee.

Retirees living in Candler, the Olsons also noted a connection between the Jubilee’s theme of hope with what they’ve witnessed in the aftermath of Helene across Western North Carolina.

“The support this region has received ever since the storm is amazing – it’s helped people realize there is hope,” Brad Olson said. “It’s going to take a long time, especially for those who lost everything, but the hope is there. The faith is there.”

Laura Olson said the Jubilee Year offers a chance to become more committed to her faith.

“I was very inspired by this Mass – my heart is full,” she said. “I just feel like I have a renewed spirit. I think our practices will be more thoughtful and more intentional this year, and that we’ll look for ways to grow spiritually.”

Father McCanless said sharing that inspiration beyond the church doors is essential.

“These are difficult times around the world,” he said. “I think the message of hope resonates with people. It will be important for parishes to find things for people to do that will help them take advantage of the Jubilee Year so that they may feel hope and bring hope to others.”

— Christina Lee Knauss, Catholic News Herald. Photos and videos by Troy C. Hull, César Hurtado, MaryAnn Luedtke, Gabriel P. Swinney and Edward F. Chaplinsky, Jr.

However, traveling to Rome, Jerusalem or other sacred places around the world might not be possible for everyone due to health, finances, family or work commitments.

That doesn’t mean that faithful Catholics need to miss out on the benefits of a Jubilee Year, which happens once every 25 years and offers the opportunity to receive an indulgence.

Three local pilgrimage sites – all listed on the National Register of Historic Places – have been designated in the Diocese of Charlotte: St. Lawrence Basilica in Asheville; Mary, Help of Christians Basilica at Belmont Abbey in Belmont; and St. Patrick Cathedral in Charlotte.

As Bishop Martin has shared: “This sacred time is a profound gift, inviting us to renew our faith, seek reconciliation, and rediscover the boundless mercy of God.” Take the time to deepen your commitment to living and proclaiming the Gospel with hope through a local pilgrimage.

St. Lawrence Basilica, Asheville

saintlawrencebasilica.org

One of two minor basilicas in the Diocese of Charlotte, St. Lawrence was designed and built in 1905 by renowned Spanish architect Rafael Guastavino. Pope John Paul II elevated it to a minor basilica in 1993. The red brick building, built in the Spanish Renaissance style, is capped by a copper dome guarded by statues of St. Lawrence, St. Stephen and St. Aloysius Gonzaga. The 82-foot-by-58-foot dome, constructed of terracotta tile, is one of the largest free-standing elliptical domes in North America. It features the vaulting technique and herringbone tile pattern that Guastavino used at Grand Central Terminal and Ellis Island’s Registry Room, as well as 200-plus other locations in New York City, and at Asheville’s Biltmore House.

St. Patrick Cathedral, Charlotte

stpatricks.org

Construction on St. Patrick Church began on March 17, 1938 – St. Patrick’s Day. It was built adjacent to the O’Donoghue School (now St. Patrick School), which had relocated to Dilworth in 1930. Frank E. Frimmer of Austria designed the edifice, and stained glass windows were produced by the Henry Keck Studio in Syracuse, N.Y. Bishop-elect Michael J. Begley selected St. Patrick as the cathedral for the new diocese of Charlotte, and it served as the location for his ordination and installation on Jan. 12, 1972. A $2.6 million project completed in 2024 repaired water damage to the roof and exterior. The plaster walls were repaired so that North Carolina artist Lisa Autry could add detailed artwork on the rib arches and walls, around the windows and – most dramatically – in the sanctuary.

Mary, Help of Christians Basilica at Belmont Abbey, Belmont

belmontabbey.org

Belmont Abbey is a monastery of Benedictine monks founded in 1876 that follows the Rule of St. Benedict of Nursia. The Basilica of Mary, Help of Christians is the central structure on the campus. The basilica was built in the neo-Gothic style in 1892 and was completely renovated in 1965. St. Katharine Drexel was one of its benefactors. It features prize-winning painted glass windows and a unique baptismal font made from an old slave auction stone. In 1998 the church was named a minor basilica by Pope John Paul II. Its cemetery contains the graves of Abbot Leo Haid, founding abbot of the monastery, and two of the diocese’s former shepherds: Bishop Michael Begley and Bishop William Curlin.

— Catholic News Herald

More online

At www.charlottediocese.org/jubilee-2025: Learn more about local and international pilgrimages, other pilgrimage sites to visit, how to obtain an indulgence, and upcoming events and celebrations.

“May you always find those glimmers of goodness that inspire us to hope,” he wrote.

The first pilgrimage of the Jubilee Year from the Diocese of Charlotte to Washington, D.C., featured not just glimmers of goodness but radiant beams of hope, invigorating its 100 pilgrims with a renewed passion for the Catholic faith.

“We go home now renewed with a deeper conviction and a deeper confidence in who we are, Christ’s People of Life, to bring the good news and the joy and the truth that we have seen during this pilgrimage home, and not to let it pass away from us,” said organizer Father Peter Ascik in his homily for the pilgrimage’s closing Mass.

The Jan. 23-25 trip included participating in the National March for Life in Washington, D.C., bookended by visits to two pilgrimage sites: the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington and the Basilica of St. Mary in Alexandria, Va.

As they left Charlotte early Thursday morning, the two busloads of pilgrims knew where they were headed: the highlight of their trip, the March for Life. And for many, the visits to the two Jubilee Year basilicas were bonuses.

PART OF SOMETHING PROFOUND

The largest Catholic church building in North America, the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception is known for its striking Romanesque-Byzantine domes, its intricate collection of glass and marble mosaics, and numerous statues of Jesus, Mary and the saints. Yet even the exquisite work of sculptural art “Mary Immaculate Accompanied by Angels,” by Ivan

Meštrović, seemed to fall short of the magnitude and uniqueness of God’s art: the 5,000 souls crowded inside for Mass Thursday night.

Pilgrims were wowed by the beautiful artwork, but the unity they felt was what stuck most in their memories.

When people go on pilgrimage, Father Ascik explained, “we see ourselves as part of something greater than us. We come from different parishes, different towns in North Carolina, and now we see ourselves together. We stepped out of our own lives, and we are part of the People of God, the People of Life. (God) calls us out from all different places and cultures to be His people, people chosen by Him to make one Body on the cross made holy by Him.”

The profound pilgrimage experience solidified the plans of first-time marcher Kyrien Keeton, 18, from Holy Family Parish in Clemmons. She’s been mulling a religious vocation, and seeing people with religious vocations from all walks of life at the events in D.C. was inspiring.

“I had never seen so many Catholics in one place – so many seminarians, so many sisters,” Keeton said. “It was so eye-opening to me – they looked so joyous, so jubilant.

“I knew in my mind there was absolutely no question that this is what I want to do. I want to be like them in the next jubilee year. I want to be wearing the habit, and I want to be in my (religious) order, worshiping at Mass.”

Keeton wasn’t the only one who felt the Holy Spirit nudging her.

Fellow pilgrim Savannah Keeting, a Drexel High School student from St. Michael the Archangel Parish in Gastonia, said she was moved Thursday night during Life Fest, a popular pre-March for Life event organized by the Sisters of Life and the Knights of Columbus.

“I saw these two sisters just talking to each other,” Keeting said. “I don’t know what came to me, but I was overwhelmed with tears because something changed in me.”
Heather Martin, who helped guide the pilgrimage along with her husband Deacon Tom Martin of St. Mark Parish in Huntersville, said the Jubilee Year pilgrimage was filled with such experiences for participants.

“The grace stories that people shared on the bus trip were so inspiring,” she said. “We loved the joy and energy of the college students and the wit and wisdom of the older folks, our age and beyond.”

HOPE FOR THE FUTURE

The pilgrimage ended Saturday with a tour and Mass at a second Jubilee Year site: the Basilica of St. Mary, the oldest Catholic church in Virginia.

The church was built in 1795 thanks to benefactors including President George Washington.

Brian and Laura Misiak brought their three sons on the pilgrimage and were excited about ending the journey at the historic basilica.

“To come to a church with such history and such beautiful stained-glass windows was moving,” Brian Misiak said. “It was the perfect way to wrap up the last three days of our trip, helping us all to appreciate the deeper meaning and the biblical context of the word pilgrimage.”

There at St. Mary’s, the pilgrims took part in another important part of the Jubilee Year: obtaining a plenary, or full, indulgence – remission of temporal punishment for one’s sins.

Pilgrims quickly formed lines for confessions when Father Ascik announced the requirements to receive the indulgence: confession within 20 days before or after the visit, receiving

Communion, and reciting the prayers for the intentions of the Holy Father.

With the help of Deacon Martin, Father Ascik arranged to offer Mass, calling on pilgrims to serve as lectors, altar boys and ushers. He randomly chose the pilgrims, unaware of their backgrounds and how their personalities linked to their roles.

One of the Misiak brothers, Nicholas, 18, was asked to be an altar server. Nicholas said later that he has been discerning for two years about applying for seminary and hopes one day to offer the Eucharistic sacrifice on his own parish’s altar.

Holly Reed, a Catholic convert, was chosen to be the lector. That day happened to be the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, and the Mass reading she gave from the Book of Acts recounted

St. Paul’s encounter with Jesus and conversion while on the road to Damascus.

It was a moving moment for the former self-described pagan. Ten years ago, Reed said, she experienced a “road” of her own. She and her husband Tim were heavily into the occult. They both hated and mocked Christianity, yet Reed kept noticing images of the Blessed Virgin Mary appearing during her day-to-day activities.

“It was wild, because I didn’t want anything to do with it because she was Christian,” Reed said. “She kept appearing in pictures, I kept hearing her name, I saw her in statues and books.”

Passing a Catholic church one day, Reed wandered inside on impulse. “I thought, being a good pagan, I was going to sit in front of the statue and worship Mary the deity, the goddess.”

Instead, she recalled, she felt Mary’s presence and an internal voice telling her, “I am so glad you are here; now I want you to stay for Mass.” Reed believes it was the voice of Our Lady, and she started on her journey to becoming Catholic.

“When the Lord wants you, He is going to call you, and He is going to make sure you know that You are His,” Reed said.

“Christ is here to make all things new,” Father Ascik emphasized in his homily at St. Mary’s to conclude the Jubilee Year pilgrimage. That knowledge gives people hope, he said.

“That is what this year means. Hope means we have a future, and each one has a future, and not one of us has reached the end of the road. There is still something more that God has for us and something that is beyond what we even thought.”

— Lisa Geraci, Aidan Creter and Amelia Kudela

"The destination is not just any goal, but a place of as much sharing, fraternity and joy as possible in this world with its lights and its trials," and where people are "open to the ultimate happiness in the company of Jesus, Mary and all the saints," the pope told members of the Italian Automobile Club.

Pope Francis focused on the meaning of jubilee pilgrimages in his meeting with the club members Jan. 23 and in audiences that day with the Italian police who patrol the area around the Vatican and with leaders of the foundation that supports the Pope's Worldwide Prayer Network.

On the pilgrimage through life, he told the auto club, people do risk "taking the wrong road -- it's true -- or of finding oneself in difficulty or feeling lost."

Especially in those situations, he said, "the Jubilee can be an opportunity to start again, to recalculate the route of one's life, identifying the landmarks that should not be missed and those that might instead become obstacles to reaching the goal."

Even worse than getting lost, though, is not moving at all, he said. "We were not made to stand still."

"Do not get discouraged, but always start again," the pope told them.

In his meeting with the Italian national police unit responsible for the area around the Vatican, Pope Francis thanked them for guaranteeing his safety and that of his collaborators and the pilgrims and tourists who visit the Vatican.

But he also encouraged them to take advantage of the Jubilee and the holy doors opened in St. Peter's Basilica and the basilicas of St. Mary Major, St. John Lateran and St. Paul Outside the Walls.

"Going through the Holy Door is not a magical act -- no, it is not -- it is a symbol, a Christian symbol; Jesus himself says, 'I am the door,'" the pope told them, quoting the Gospel of John.

Making a pilgrimage and crossing the threshold of the Holy Door is "a sign that expresses the desire to begin again," the pope said. A wise person recognizes the need "to begin again. Always going one step forward. The desire to be renewed, and to let God find you."

Pope Francis prayed that even "those who may not recognize that they have the gift of faith, let them equally take advantage of this Jubilee Year to go forward."

The Pope's Worldwide Prayer Network, a longtime Jesuit ministry that shares the pope's monthly prayer intentions, has a more obvious Jubilee connection since pilgrims must pray for the pope's intentions, go to confession and receive the Eucharist to receive a Holy Year indulgence.

The pope told the group that the network also can contribute to the Jubilee by "helping individuals and communities to live the spirit of the Holy Year as a journey in which prayer and compassion, prayer and closeness to the least among us, prayer and works of mercy are inseparably combined."

— Cindy Wooden, Catholic News Service

VATICAN — Opening the Holy Door to St. Peter’s Basilica on Christmas Eve, Pope Francis will formally inaugurate the Jubilee Year 2025 with “Pilgrims of Hope” as its theme. The year will be marked by pilgrimages and celebrations focused on specific groups – from migrants to marching bands, catechists to communicators, and priests to prisoners.

A holy year – or jubilee – is a time of pilgrimage, prayer, repentance and acts of mercy, based on the Old Testament tradition of a jubilee year of rest, forgiveness and renewal. Holy years also are a time when Catholics make pilgrimages to designated churches and shrines, recite special prayers, go to confession and receive Holy Communion to receive a plenary indulgence, which is a remission of the temporal punishment due for one’s sins.

The celebration of a Holy Year every 25 years is an acknowledgment that “the Christian life is a journey calling for moments of greater intensity to encourage and sustain hope as the constant companion that guides our steps toward the goal of our encounter with the Lord Jesus,” Pope Francis wrote when announcing the jubilee.

Bishop Michael Martin notes, “I warmly urge you to embrace the Church’s 2025 Jubilee Year with open hearts. This sacred time is a profound gift, inviting us to renew our faith, seek reconciliation, and rediscover the boundless mercy of God.”

Throughout 2025, there will be jubilee events here in our diocese and around the world.

JUBILEE PRAYER
Father in heaven, may the faith you have given us in your Son, Jesus Christ, enkindled in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, reawaken in us the blessed hope for the coming of your Kingdom.

May your grace transform us into tireless cultivators of the seeds of the Gospel. May those seeds transform from within both humanity and the whole cosmos in the sure expectation of a new heaven and a new earth, when, with the powers of evil vanquished, your glory will shine eternally.

May the grace of the Jubilee reawaken in us, Pilgrims of Hope, a yearning for the treasures of heaven. May that same grace spread the joy and peace of our Redeemer throughout the earth.

To you our God, eternally blessed, be glory and praise for ever. Amen.

Diocese of Charlotte events

Bishop Michael Martin will celebrate three Opening Masses of Hope for the Holy Year at these times and locations:
Dec. 28 – 5 p.m.: St. Lawrence Basilica, Asheville
Dec. 29 – 11:30 a.m.: St. Pius X Church, Greensboro
Dec. 29 – 5 p.m.: St. Mark Church, Huntersville

What is a Jubilee Year?

A jubilee year is a special year of grace and celebration, celebrated since biblical times. In the Old Testament, a jubilee was celebrated every 50 years as a time when Hebrew slaves were set free, debts forgiven, and land returned to its original owners. The word “jubilee” comes from the Hebrew word “yobel,” a ram’s horn that was used to signal the start of the special year. It is a time for the faithful to seek spiritual renewal, forgiveness of sins, and indulgences through specific acts of devotion and mercy.

In the Catholic Church, jubilee years usually occur every 25 years. This Jubilee Year – which runs from Dec. 24, 2024 to Dec. 23, 2025 – was announced by Pope Francis in a papal bull entitled “Spes non confundit” (“Hope does not disappoint,” from Romans 5:5). The theme for the year is “Pilgrims of Hope” and is intended to promote peacebuilding and outreach through prayer, pilgrimage, reconciliation and forgiveness.

What are Holy Doors and how do they relate to a jubilee year?

Holy Doors are ceremonial doors in major basilicas, such as St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome (center photo), that symbolize the spiritual journey from sin to salvation, mercy and renewal. Most of the time these special doors remain sealed, opened by the pope only during jubilee years. A holy door is the most powerful sign of a jubilee year, since the ultimate goal of the pilgrim is to pass through it, and walking through a Holy Door during a jubilee year is one of the conditions for receiving a jubilee indulgence, which removes temporal punishment for sins.

Why is it important to celebrate a jubilee year?

Jubilee years provide a unique opportunity for spiritual growth, emphasizing God’s abundant mercy and the call to live a renewed life of faith and service. During a jubilee year, Catholics are encouraged to:

• Make pilgrimages to designated holy sites, especially in Rome
• Pass through Holy Doors, symbolizing entering God’s mercy
• Perform acts of penance and charity
• Receive special indulgences by fulfilling specific spiritual acts and prayers

More online

Learn more about the Jubilee Year: https://www.iubilaeum2025.va/en.html

Pope Francis smiles during the first of his Saturday general audiences for the Holy Year in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican Jan. 11, 2025. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

The Holy Year 2025 theme, "Pilgrims of Hope," is a reminder that hope "is not a habit or a character trait -- that you either have or you don't -- but a strength to be asked for. That is why we make ourselves pilgrims: We come to ask for a gift, to start again on life's journey," the pope said Jan. 11.

Meeting more than 7,000 pilgrims who filled the Vatican audience hall or pressed against crowd-control barriers outside, Pope Francis began a series of Saturday general audiences designed, as he said, to "welcome and embrace all those who are coming from all over the world in search of a new beginning."

Throughout the audience, the pope had the crowd repeat "ricominciare," Italian for "begin again."

The audience was held the day before the feast of the Baptism of the Lord when the church commemorates Jesus going down to the Jordan River and joining the crowds who responded to St. John the Baptist's call for conversion.

A summary of the pope's talk, read to the pilgrims in English, said that John the Baptist's "message in calling for conversion was one of hope in the advent of the Messiah, a hope fulfilled in the coming of Jesus and his invitation to welcome the kingdom of God."

"Like the crowds that flocked to the waters of the Jordan, may all who pass through the Holy Door this year receive the grace of interior renewal, openness to the dawn of God's kingdom and its summons to conversion, fraternal love and concern for the least of our brothers and sisters," the pope's message to English-speakers said.

On a Holy Year pilgrimage and, more generally, on the journey of life, "we, too, bring many questions," the pope told the pilgrims, but Jesus replies by pointing to a "new path, the path of the Beatitudes," which proclaims how blessed are the poor in spirit, those who mourn, those who struggle for justice and those who work for peace.

"Hope for our common home -- this Earth of ours, so abused and wounded -- and the hope for all human beings resides in the difference of God. His greatness is different," the pope said. Jesus demonstrated how greatness comes not from domination, but from learning "to serve, to love fraternally, to acknowledge ourselves as small. And to see the least, to listen to them and to be their voice."

— Cindy Wooden, Catholic News Service

From Dec. 24, when the pope inaugurated the Holy Year, to Jan. 7, the Vatican said, 545,532 people from around the world have made the journey along the lengthy boulevard leading to St. Peter's Square and crossed through the basilica's Holy Door.

"This is a very significant beginning," Archbishop Rino Fisichella, the chief Vatican organizer of the Jubilee Year, said in a statement. "The groups crowding Via della Conciliazione are giving an important testimony, and this is also a sign of the great perception of safety and security that pilgrims experience in the city of Rome and around the four papal basilicas."

A tunnel diverting vehicle traffic underground at the beginning of Via Della Conciliazione -- the street leading to the Vatican -- was completed just before the start of the Holy Year. A pathway extending from the new pedestrian square at the start of the street to the Holy Door also was set up exclusively for pilgrims walking individually or in groups to St. Peter's Basilica.

Archbishop Fisichella acknowledged, however, that there were some "difficulties" in managing the flow of pilgrims and tourists through St. Peter's Basilica, a problem that would be studied.

The city of Rome has estimated that more than 30 million people will travel to the city during the Jubilee.

Based on the number of pilgrims that crossed the Holy Door in the first days of the Holy Year, "a steady increase in pilgrim turnout is expected," the Vatican said in its statement, noting also the many children, youth, adults and elderly who participated in Jubilee celebrations at the diocesan level Dec. 29.

The Vatican said that the "great desire to participate in the Jubilee was also visible in the thousands of people who filled the four papal basilicas on the days celebrating the opening of the Holy Doors, often filling the squares in front of them."

While Pope Francis opened the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica and another at a Rome prison complex, he did not attend the opening of the holy doors at the other three papal basilicas in Rome: St. Mary Major, St. John Lateran and St. Paul Outside the Walls.

The first major event of the Holy Year is the Jubilee of the World of Communications Jan. 24-26, which will bring to Rome "thousands of journalists, experts and communications workers from all over the world," the Vatican said.

 — Justin McLellan, Catholic News Service

U.S. Cardinal James M. Harvey, archpriest of Rome's Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, opens the Holy Door of the basilica before celebrating Mass Jan. 5, 2025. (CNS photo/Paolo Galosi, pool)

Pope Francis' call to the whole church during the Jubilee Year is "both pressing and challenging. It is a call not to be satisfied just with having hope, but to radiate hope, to be sowers of hope," the cardinal said at Mass Jan. 5 after opening the basilica's Holy Door.

The golden bronze door, installed for the Holy Year 2000, was the last of the Holy Doors at the papal basilicas of Rome to be opened for pilgrims.

With the theme, "Pilgrims of Hope," Pope Francis inaugurated the Holy Year Dec. 24 by opening the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica, and he opened a Holy Door Dec. 26 at Rome's Rebibbia prison. The archpriest of the Basilica of St. John Lateran opened the Holy Door there Dec. 29, and the coadjutor archpriest of the Basilica of St. Mary Major opened the Holy Door at the Marian basilica Jan. 1.

In his homily at St. Paul Outside the Walls, Cardinal Harvey said hope "is certainly the most beautiful gift the church can give humanity, especially at this moment in history."

The opening of the Holy Door, particularly during the Christmas season, he said, "marks the salvific passage opened by Christ with his incarnation, death and resurrection, calling all members of the church to reconcile with God and with their neighbor."

Cardinal Harvey told the congregation of close to 3,000 people that the words, "Spes Unica," meaning "our only hope," are written at the base of the cross on top of the basilica.

During the Jubilee Year, he said, Christians in Rome and around the world are called to hold tight to the cross and set off as pilgrims, journeying together, supporting one another and sharing with all people the hope for eternal salvation accomplished in Christ.

Quoting the Letter to the Romans of the Apostle Paul, whose tomb is under the basilica's main altar, Cardinal Harvey said his Holy Year prayer is: "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."

 — Cindy Wooden, Catholic News Service

Cardinal Baldassare Reina, papal vicar for Rome and archpriest of the basilica, which is the Diocese of Rome's cathedral, opened the Holy Door there Dec. 29 as bishops around the world launched the Holy Year 2025 in their dioceses.

"It is not important how far we have strayed; it is not relevant what we have done, wasted or ruined," the cardinal said in his homily at Mass after opening the door. "The moment we have decided to return we will never find a closed door, but only an embrace that welcomes and blesses."

Pope Francis opened the Holy Door at St. Peter's Basilica Dec. 24 and at Rome's Rebibbia prison Dec. 26 but assigned the archpriests of the city's other major basilicas to preside over the ceremonies of the other major pilgrimage sites. Cardinal Rolandas Makrickas, coadjutor archpriest of the Basilica of St. Mary Major, was to open the Holy Door there Jan. 1, and U.S. Cardinal James M. Harvey, archpriest of the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, was to preside over the opening of the Holy Door there Jan. 5.

In his homily Dec. 29, Cardinal Reina said that crossing the threshold of a Holy Door during the Jubilee Year is a sign that one accepts God's call to return to him and to live as his son or daughter and as a brother or sister to others.

The open doors, he said, are "an invitation to respond to God's grace with an open heart, allowing ourselves to be reconciled by his embrace that restores our dignity and enables us to build relationships of authentic fraternity."

 — Catholic News Service

Spring flowers bloom outside the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington in this file photo. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has designated the art-filled and inspiring basilica as a special pilgrimage site for the 2025 Jubilee Year. (Photo provided by the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception and OSV News)

The designation – made by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ administrative committee and announced Dec. 16 – enables pilgrims to gain the Jubilee Year indulgence.

USCCB president Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services said in a media release issued by the shrine that “visiting the basilica is a powerful way to take advantage of the grace of the Jubilee and to be filled with the hope that flows from the embrace of our Mother.”

Basilica Rector Monsignor Walter Rossi said he was “grateful to the Administrative Committee for the privilege of designating Mary’s Shrine as a special place of pilgrimage for the Holy Year.”

The shrine is the largest Catholic Church building ion North America. Construction of the Byzantine and Romanesque Revival building began in 1920. It is home to 82 Marian chapels representing peoples from every corner of the globe. As its website notes, “the National Shrine reflects the ethnic and cultural diversity of the United States and the unity and universality of the Catholic Church,” which makes it an ideal site for a Jubilee Year pilgrimage close to home.

“This honor will provide a moment of grace for all ‘Pilgrims of Hope’ during the Jubilee Year and will be especially beneficial to those who are unable to travel to Rome to pass through the Holy Doors and obtain the jubilee indulgence,” Monsignor Rossi said.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that sin incurs a “double consequence.” While the sacrament of reconciliation restores men and women to grace and “intimate friendship” with God, the Church teaches that “temporal punishment of sin remains.” This requires purification through works of mercy, charity, prayer and penance to complete the soul’s conversion. Such temporal punishment can also be remitted, in whole or in part, through indulgences granted by the Church.

Pope Francis issued a May 13 decree specifying the ways in which the Jubilee Year indulgence can be obtained.
Conditions include true repentance, freedom from any affection for sin, a spirit of charity, receiving the sacraments of reconciliation and holy Communion, and praying during the Jubilee Year for the pope’s intentions.

In addition, pilgrims must make either a pilgrimage or pious visit to one of the designated jubilee sites in the world. Those unable to travel – such as cloistered orders, as well as the elderly, the infirm and their caretakers, and the incarcerated – can obtain the indulgence through prayer, including the Lord’s Prayer and the Profession of Faith, and the offering up of their sufferings. The indulgence will also be extended to the faithful who carry out works of mercy and penance.

The national shrine, open every day of the year, provides four daily Masses from Monday through Saturday, and seven Masses (including the vigil) on Sunday. Confession is available five hours each day.

The basilica is the largest Roman Catholic church in North America and among the 10 largest in the world. Among those visiting the shrine have been two saints, John Paul II and Mother Teresa of Calcutta, and two other popes, Benedict XVI and Francis.

— OSV News

Pope Francis pauses in prayer on the threshold of the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican Dec. 24, 2024, after he opened it and inaugurated the Holy Year 2025. (CNS photo/screen grab, Vatican Media)

As the doors opened, the bells of the basilica began to peal.

After the reading of a brief passage from the Gospel of John in which Jesus describes himself as "the door," Pope Francis briefly left the atrium of the basilica, creating some confusion. But when the cardinals in the front row sat down, the others did likewise.

Three minutes later, the pope returned. He was pushed in his wheelchair up the ramp to the Holy Door. In silence, he raised himself from the chair to knock five times, and aides inside slowly opened the door, which had been framed in a garland of green pine branches, decorated with red roses and gold pinecones.

Opening the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica has been a fixture of the Catholic Church's celebration of jubilee years since the Holy Year 1450, the Vatican said.

Pope Francis chose "Pilgrims of Hope" as the theme for the Holy Year 2025, which began Dec. 24 and will run through Jan. 6, 2026.

The rite of opening the decorated bronze door began inside the basilica with the reading in different languages of biblical passages prophesying the birth of the savior "who brings his kingdom of peace into our world," as the lector explained.

Then, to emphasize how the birth of Jesus "proclaims the dawn of hope in our world," the Gospel of St. Matthew's account of the birth of Jesus was proclaimed.

Introduced with a blare of trumpets, the choir sang, "Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord."

"The steps we now take are the steps of the whole church, a pilgrim in the world and a witness of peace," the pope told the assembled cardinals, bishops, ecumenical guests and lay faithful in the atrium of the basilica.

"Holding fast to Christ, the rock of our salvation, enlightened by his word and renewed by his grace," the pope continued, "may we cross the threshold of this holy temple and so enter into a season of mercy and forgiveness in which every man and woman may encounter and embrace the path of hope, which does not disappoint."

Echoing the biblical jubilee themes of reconciliation and forgiveness, Pope Francis prayed that the Holy Spirit would soften hardened hearts so that "enemies may speak to each other again, adversaries may join hands and people seek to meet together."

"Grant that the church may bear faithful witness to your love and may shine forth as a vital sign of the blessed hope of your kingdom," he prayed.

Normally the Holy Door, to the right of the basilica's center doors, remains sealed with bricks, a symbolic reminder of the barrier of sin between people and God. The 16 panels on the bronze doors illustrate key moments in salvation history, including the fall of Adam and Eve, the annunciation of Jesus' birth, Christ presented as the shepherd rescuing a lost sheep, the crucifixion and the risen Jesus appearing to the disciples.

Ten children from 10 different countries, holding hands with their parents, crossed the threshold after the pope and the altar servers, but before the cardinals and bishops. Then 54 people from 27 nations -- including the United States and Canada, Australia, Tanzania and Togo, Venezuela and Vietnam -- passed through. Many of them wore the traditional dress of their nations or ethnic groups.

Neither the Vatican press office nor the Jubilee press office released the names of the pilgrims or explained how they were chosen.

Also among the first to cross the threshold were representatives of other Christian churches. The Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity said in an explanatory note, "Entering through the Holy Door expresses the willingness to follow and be guided by the only begotten Son of God."

Especially during the year that will see the celebration of the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, which solemnly defined the basics of Christian faith, the ritual "is a manifestation of the faith that all Christians share in Jesus, the Eternal Word made man," the note said.

However, it added, the ecumenical guests' participation "must not be interpreted as an attempt to associate them with elements of the jubilee, such as the jubilee indulgence, which are not in line with the practices of their respective communities."

In fact, the "selling" of indulgences helped spark the Protestant Reformation; the practice was later banned by the Council of Trent.

The Catholic Church believes that Christ and the saints have accumulated a treasure of merits, which other believers -- who are prayerful and repentant -- can draw upon to reduce or erase the punishment they are due because of sins they have committed. Making a pilgrimage, going to confession, receiving Communion and offering prayers to receive an indulgence is a key part of the Holy Year.

 — Cindy Wooden, Catholic News Service

The theme of the year, which marks the 2,025th anniversary of Christ's incarnation, is "Pilgrims of Hope" -- and the responsibility to become just that is crucial for humanity as a whole, said Bishop Donald J. Hying of the Diocese of Madison, Wisconsin, in his Dec. 18 pastoral letter on the Jubilee Year.

"The Holy Father calls us to be signs of hope in a world which desperately needs it in this current moment!" wrote Bishop Hying. "The human race is riven by ongoing bloody conflicts in Ukraine, Gaza, and Syria; 500 million people suffer food inadequacy because of violence in places like the Sudan, Haiti, and Ethiopia. Increasing numbers of people are fleeing their homelands to escape poverty and violence."

In addition, said Bishop Hying, "our country is divided by profound political conflict and economic imbalance," while "decreasing numbers of people practice religious faith and increasing numbers have lost their moral mooring in the transcendent order of God."

He also pointed to "record high" suicide rates and mental health issues, "especially among our beloved young people," and "own personal struggles, sufferings, and sorrows.

"We can easily fall into despair and sadness when we contemplate the tragedies before us," he said.

"Hope is hard sometimes," wrote Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles in a Dec. 18 reflection on the upcoming Jubilee Year. "We can look around at the world and see plenty of signs that things aren’t the way God intends them to be."

Amid such darkness, the Jubilee Year offers "a spiritual reboot" that can "reinvigorate our understanding and embrace of Catholicism as we make our pilgrim way to the Father’s house," said Bishop Hying in his letter.

"We need hope more than ever!" he wrote, stressing that the theological virtue of hope is "much more authentic and resilient than optimism."

Archbishop Gomez urged the faithful to "make hope more than a feeling."

Along with faith and charity, hope is one of the three theological virtues, and enables faithful to "desire the kingdom of heaven and eternal life as our happiness, placing our trust in Christ's promises and relying not on our own strength, but on the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit," according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church (1817).

"Our hope is true," wrote Archbishop Gomez. "We hope in the promises of Jesus, who was born for us and died for us, and having risen from the dead now walks with us, as our friend and our leader."

Several bishops highlighted how the virtue of hope is inextricably bound to Christ's cross.

In a Dec. 13 commentary, Bishop Dennis J. Sullivan of Camden, New Jersey, said the Jubilee Year logo makes that connection crystal clear.

The logo's four embracing figures, representing the four corners of the earth, stand aligned behind the cross -- the base of which is an anchor -- atop waves that Bishop Sullivan said "reflect the rough situations that, at times, happen to us and to the world."

With the cross "the sign of faith and the source of hope," the anchor becomes "a symbol of hope," which "steadies us when life throws punches at us," wrote Bishop Sullivan.

He cited the motto of the Carthusian religious order, "Stat crux dum volvitur orbis" -- or, as Bishop Sullivan translated, "The Cross stands steady as the world goes topsy-turvy."

"When your experience in life is rocky and turbulent, when the world situation is dangerous, look to the Cross of the Lord and be steadied by the hope it offers," wrote Bishop Sullivan.

Bishop Patrick M. Neary of St. Cloud, Minnesota, also underlined the connection between hope and the cross in a Dec. 11 commentary on the Jubilee Year, pointing to both his episcopal motto, "Ave Crux, Spes Unica" ("Hail the Cross, Our Only Hope") and the constitutions of his own religious order, the Congregation of Holy Cross.

Quoting the order's constitutions, Bishop Neary wrote, "Jesus entered into the pain and death that sin inflicts. He accepted the torment but gave us joy in return. We whom he has sent to minister amid the same sin and pain must know that we too shall find the cross and the hope it promises. The face of every human being who suffers is for us the face of Jesus who mounted the cross to take the sting out of death. Ours must be the same cross and the same hope.”

Hope must be nourished through the sacraments, and demonstrated in concrete actions, said a number of bishops.

"We begin with Confession and Holy Communion," said Canada's Ukrainian Catholic bishops in their Dec. 18 pastoral letter on the Jubilee Year, adding that "these two Mysteries/Sacraments … have a central role in the Jubilee Year."

In addition, they said, "becoming an authentic follower of Christ and then living the life of a follower, requires making a sacrifice (often an ongoing sacrifice) and actively witnessing to our faith."

Bishop John G. Noonan of Orlando, Florida, said that the Jubilee Year, which traces its roots to ancient Judaism, provides fresh opportunities to proclaim the message of Christ's salvation to a modern world -- a task that begins with self-examination, and one that is sustained by the Eucharist.

"It’s hard to translate forgiveness of debt and some of the traditional ways the Jubilee Year was celebrated to the world we live in today, but we can think about what do we need to unload -- fear, anger, frustration, vengeance, violence," said Bishop Noonan in an undated Jubilee Year interview posted on the Orlando Diocese's website. "Sometimes we’re living with all of this and by osmosis it’s penetrated our lives and become part of who we are. Now it’s time to empty ourselves of it.

"But then, with what are we going to fill ourselves?" said Bishop Noonan, adding that the Jubilee Year is "an inviting of Christ into your life, through the Eucharist, bringing hope into your life and following Christ."

 — Gina Christian, OSV News

At his general audience Dec. 18, the pope began a new series of talks on "Jesus Christ our hope," which he announced will the theme for his weekly catechesis throughout the Jubilee Year, which is set to begin with the opening of the Holy Door in St. Peter's Basilica Dec. 24.

Jesus, "is the destination of our pilgrimage, and he himself is the way, the path to be traveled," he said in the Vatican audience hall.

Walking across the stage to his seat rather than using a wheelchair as he had previously done, Pope Francis stopped to pray before a relic of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, the 19th-century French saint who was the subject of an apostolic exhortation published by the pope in 2023.

After aides read the genealogy of Jesus from St. Matthew's Gospel in various languages, the pope explained that "the genealogy is a literary genre that is a suitable for conveying a very important message: No one gives life to him- or herself but receives it as a gift for others."

Unlike the genealogies in the Old Testament, which mention only male figures, St. Matthew includes five women in Jesus' lineage, Pope Francis noted. Four of the women are united "by being foreigners to the people of Israel," the pope said, highlighting Jesus' mission to embrace both Jews and Gentiles.

The mention of Mary in the genealogy "marks a new beginning," Pope Francis said, "because in her story it is no longer the human creature who is the protagonist of generation, but God himself."

In St. Matthew's Gospel, the genealogy typically describes lineage by stating that a male figure "became the father of" a son. However, when it comes to Mary, the wording shifts: "of her was born Jesus who is called the Messiah."

Through his lineage to David, Jesus is destined to be the Messiah of Israel, but because he is also descended from Abraham and foreign women, he will become the "light of the Gentiles" and "savior of the world," Pope Francis said citing Scripture.

"Brothers and sisters, let us awaken in ourselves the grateful memory toward our ancestors," he said, "and above all let us give thanks to God who, through mother church, has begotten us to eternal life, the life of Jesus, our hope."

In his greeting to pilgrims after his main talk, Pope Francis briefly reflected on his Dec. 15 daytrip to the French island of Corsica to close a theology conference on popular religiosity.

"The recent trip in Corsica, where I was so warmly welcomed, particularly struck me for the fervor of the people" who do not treat faith as a "private matter," he said, as well as "for the number of children present, a great joy and a great hope."

— Justin McLellan, Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY — The celebration of a Holy Year every 25 years is an acknowledgment that "the Christian life is a journey calling for moments of greater intensity to encourage and sustain hope as the constant companion that guides our steps toward the goal of our encounter with the Lord Jesus," Pope Francis wrote.

Opening the Holy Door to St. Peter's Basilica on Christmas Eve, the pope will formally inaugurate the Jubilee Year 2025 with its individual, parish and diocesan pilgrimages and with special celebrations focused on specific groups from migrants to marching bands, catechists to communicators and priests to prisoners.

Inside the Vatican basilica, the door had been bricked up since Nov. 20, 2016, when Pope Francis closed the extraordinary Holy Year of Mercy.

Dismantling the brick wall began Dec. 2 with a ritual of prayer and the removal of a box containing the key to the door and Vatican medals. The Holy Doors at the basilicas of St. John Lateran, St. Mary Major and St. Paul Outside the Walls were to be freed of their brickwork in the week that followed.

In January 2021, as the world struggled to return to some kind of normalcy after the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Pope Francis announced that he had chosen "Pilgrims of Hope" as the theme for the Holy Year.

"We must fan the flame of hope that has been given us and help everyone to gain new strength and certainty by looking to the future with an open spirit, a trusting heart and farsighted vision," the pope wrote in a letter entrusting the organization of the Jubilee to Archbishop Rino Fisichella, president of the then-Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization.

The pope prayed that the Holy Year would be marked by "deep faith, lively hope and active charity."

A holy year or jubilee is a time of pilgrimage, prayer, repentance and acts of mercy, based on the Old Testament tradition of a jubilee year of rest, forgiveness and renewal. Holy years also are a time when Catholics make pilgrimages to designated churches and shrines, recite special prayers, go to confession and receive Communion to receive a plenary indulgence, which is a remission of the temporal punishment due for one's sins.

Crossing the threshold of the Holy Door does not give a person automatic access to the indulgence or to grace, as St. John Paul II said in his document proclaiming the Holy Year 2000. But walking through the doorway is a sign of the passage from sin to grace which every Christian is called to accomplish.

"To pass through that door means to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord; it is to strengthen faith in him in order to live the new life which he has given us. It is a decision which presumes freedom to choose and also the courage to leave something behind, in the knowledge that what is gained is divine life," St. John Paul wrote.

Pope Boniface VIII proclaimed the first Holy Year in 1300 and decreed that jubilees would be celebrated every 100 years. But just 50 years later, a more biblical cadence, Pope Clement VI proclaimed another holy year.

Pope Paul II decided in 1470 that holy years should be held every 25 years, which has been the practice ever since -- but with the addition of special jubilees, like the Holy Year of Mercy in 2015-16, marking special occasions or needs.

The Jubilee of Mercy had a special focus on encouraging Catholics to return to confession, but the sacrament is a key part of every Holy Year.

Pope Francis, in his bull of indiction for the 2025 Holy Year, said churches are places "where we can drink from the wellsprings of hope, above all by approaching the sacrament of reconciliation, the essential starting point of any true journey of conversion."

The pope also asked Catholics to use the Jubilee Year to nourish or exercise their hope by actively looking for signs of God's grace and goodness around them.

"We need to recognize the immense goodness present in our world, lest we be tempted to think ourselves overwhelmed by evil and violence," he wrote. "The signs of the times, which include the yearning of human hearts in need of God's saving presence, ought to become signs of hope."

Even in a troubled world, one can notice how many people are praying for and demonstrating their desire for peace, for safeguarding creation and for defending human life at every stage, he said. Those are signs of hope that cannot be discounted.

As part of the Holy Year 2025, Pope Francis has announced the canonization of Blessed Carlo Acutis April 27 during the special Jubilee for Adolescents and the proclamation of the sainthood of Blessed Pier Giorgi Frassati Aug. 3 during the Jubilee for Young Adults.

The lives of the two men, active Catholics who died young, are emblematic of Pope Francis' conviction that hope, "founded on faith and nurtured by charity," is what enables people "to press forward in life" despite setbacks and trials.

Both young Italians knew that the hope they drew from faith had to be shared with others through their words, their way of acting and their charity.

Pope Francis, in the bull of indiction, told Catholics that "during the Holy Year, we are called to be tangible signs of hope for those of our brothers and sisters who experience hardships of any kind."

Less than two weeks before Pope Francis opens the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican on Christmas Eve, workers set out large planters Dec. 13, 2024, to mark a reserved path to the door for Holy Year pilgrims. (CNS/Cindy Wooden)

In addition to individual acts of charity, love and kindness like feeding the hungry, welcoming the stranger or visiting the sick and the imprisoned, Pope Francis has continued his predecessors' practice of observing the jubilee by calling on governments to reduce the foreign debt of the poorest countries, grant amnesty to certain prisoners and strengthen programs to help migrants and refugees settle in their new homes.

Italy and the city of Rome are keeping one of the messier and tension-producing traditions of a Holy Year: Roadworks and the restoration or cleaning of monuments, fountains and important buildings.

Archbishop Fisichella, the chief Vatican organizer of the Jubilee Year, said in late November that the Vatican had commissioned a university to forecast the Holy Year pilgrim and tourist influx. They came up with a prediction of 32 million visitors to Rome.

The multilingual jubilee website -- www.iubilaeum2025.va -- has been up and running for months and includes the possibility of reserving a time to pass through the Holy Door at St. Peter's and the other major basilicas of Rome.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops also has a special section on its website -- www.usccb.org/committees/jubilee-2025 -- with information about traveling to Rome for the Holy Year and for celebrating the special jubilees in one's own diocese or parish.

— Cindy Wooden, Catholic News Service

Pictured at top:

U.S. Cardinal James M. Harvey, archpriest of Rome's Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, opens a box that had been sealed into the Holy Door of the basilica Dec. 5, 2024. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

VATICAN — Signs around the Eternal City declare "Roma si trasforma" -- "Rome is transformed" as an explanation for the ubiquitous infrastructure projects underway, including the restoration of iconic sculptures and monuments, ahead of Jubilee 2025, a Holy Year that begins Christmas Eve.

While the metropolis is seizing the opportunity for renewal, that is ultimately the jubilee's expectation for the entire church. "For everyone, may the Jubilee be a moment of genuine, personal encounter with the Lord Jesus, the 'door' ... of our salvation, whom the Church is charged to proclaim always, everywhere and to all as 'our hope,'" Pope Francis wrote in the document that officially declared the year.

Here are 10 things to know about the upcoming Jubilee Year.

1. A jubilee year, also known as a "holy year," is a special year in the life of the church currently celebrated every 25 years. The most recent ordinary jubilee was in 2000, with Pope Francis calling for an Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy in 2015-2016. Jubilee years have been held on regular intervals in the Catholic church since 1300, but they trace their roots to the Jewish tradition of marking a jubilee year every 50 years.

According to the Vatican website for the jubilee, these years in Jewish history were "intended to be marked as a time to re-establish a proper relationship with God, with one another, and with all of creation, and involved the forgiveness of debts, the return of misappropriated land, and a fallow period for the fields."

2. Jubilee 2025 opens Christmas Eve, Dec. 24, at 7 p.m., with the rite of the opening of the Holy Door at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican immediately before Pope Francis celebrates midnight Mass. Holy Doors will also be opened at Rome's three other major basilicas: St. John Lateran on Dec. 29, St. Mary Major on Jan. 1, and St. Paul's Outside the Walls on Jan. 5.

A Holy Door will also be opened Dec. 26 at Rebibbia Prison, a Roman prison Pope Francis has visited twice before to celebrate Mass and wash inmates' feet on Holy Thursday.

The doors represent the passage to salvation Jesus opened to humanity. In 1423, Pope Martin V opened the Holy Door in the Basilica of St. John Lateran -- the Diocese of Rome's cathedral -- for the first time for a jubilee. For the Holy Year of 1500, Pope Alexander VI opened Holy Doors at Rome's four main basilicas. At the end of a holy year, the Holy Doors are formally closed and then bricked over by masons.

3. The theme of the Holy Year is "Pilgrims of Hope." The papal bull, issued May 9, that introduced the coming Jubilee Year is titled "Spes Non Confundit," or "Hope does not disappoint," drawn from Romans 5:5. "Everyone knows what it is to hope," Pope Francis wrote. "In the heart of each person, hope dwells as the desire and expectation of good things to come, despite our not knowing what the future may bring.

"Even so, uncertainty about the future may at times give rise to conflicting feelings, ranging from confident trust to apprehensiveness, from serenity to anxiety, from firm conviction to hesitation and doubt," he continued. "Often we come across people who are discouraged, pessimistic and cynical about the future, as if nothing could possibly bring them happiness. For all of us, may the Jubilee be an opportunity to be renewed in hope. God's word helps us find reasons for that hope."

Pope Francis also hopes the year draws Catholics toward patience, which he described in "Spes Non Confundit" as a "virtue closely linked to hope," yet can feel elusive in "our fast-paced world, we are used to wanting everything now."

4. Drawing on their Jewish roots, jubilee years emphasize the sacrament of reconciliation and restoring relationships with God. They also provide an opportunity for a special jubilee indulgence, which can remove the residual effects of sin through the grace of Christ.

5. The year calls Christians to action. Pope Francis called for "signs of hope" in the Jubilee Year, including the desire for peace in the world, openness to life and responsible parenthood, and closeness to prisoners, the poor, the sick, the young, the elderly, migrants and people "in difficult situations." Pope Francis has called on affluent counties to forgive the debts of countries that would never be able to repay them, and address "ecological debt," which he described as "connected to commercial imbalances with effects on the environment and the disproportionate use of natural resources by certain countries over long periods of time."

6. Expect an influx of pilgrims in the Eternal City. Italy's National Tourist Research Institute projects 35 million visitors in 2025, nearly triple of its 13 million visitors in 2023. Pilgrimage is a "fundamental" part of jubilee events, Pope Francis said in "Spes Non Confundit." "Setting out on a journey is traditionally associated with our human quest for meaning in life. A pilgrimage on foot is a great aid for rediscovering the value of silence, effort and simplicity of life," he wrote.

He noted that jubilee pilgrims are likely to visit Rome's Christian catacombs and its seven pilgrim churches -- the basilicas of St. Peter, St. Mary Major, St. John Lateran, St. Paul Outside the Walls, St. Lawrence, Holy Cross and St. Sebastian -- destinations St. Philip Neri popularized in the 16th century with a 15-mile walk. Twelve other Roman churches, including the Sanctuary of Divine Love in southeast Rome, are designated "jubilee churches" intended as gathering spots for pilgrims during the jubilee.

Experts in the travel and hospitality industries suggest anyone heading to Rome in 2025 -- pilgrim or not -- book accommodations, tickets and tours in advance. Visitors may also be expected to pay an increased tourist tax, depending on their type of accommodations.

7. Major events are happening in Rome, including jubilee gatherings with liturgies, speakers and papal audiences to celebrate different groups within the church. The first is the Jubilee of the World of Communications Jan. 24-26, followed by the Jubilee of the Armed Forces, Police and Security Personnel Feb. 8-9. The jubilee also includes gatherings for artists (Feb. 15-18), deacons (Feb. 21-23) and even marching bands (May 10-11). Some of these special gatherings will coincide with major canonizations, such as the canonization of Blessed Carlo Acutis during the Jubilee of Teenagers April 25-27, and the canonization of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati during the Jubilee of Young People July 28-Aug. 3.

Expect some events to highlight the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, from which Christians received the Nicene Creed. This year, despite different liturgical calendars, the dates for celebrating Easter align in the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church, leading some, including Pope Francis, to call for a "decisive step forward towards unity around a common date for Easter," which was discussed in 325 at the Council of Nicaea.

8. Expect Rome to sparkle and shine. Many famous sites and artworks in Rome and at the Vatican have been cleaned or restored for the jubilee, much to the chagrin of many tourists in 2024, who found major monuments obscured by fencing, scaffolding and tarps. Many of those projects are expected to be completed with a fresh-face reveal in time for the jubilee. In October, St. Peter's Basilica revealed its newly restored baldacchino, designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini in the 1600s, after 10 months of work. Also receiving cleaning or restoration are Michelangelo's Pietà, Bernini's Fountain of the Four Rivers in Piazza Navona, and Bernini's angels on the Ponte Sant'Angelo.

9. While many jubilee events will take place in Rome and at the Vatican, it's a celebration for the whole church. On Dec. 29, diocesan bishops are expected to open the Holy Year locally with Masses at their cathedrals and co-cathedrals. Catholics are encouraged to make pilgrimages to their cathedral during the year, and should watch diocesan communications for local events. While Pope Francis encouraged bishops to designate Holy Doors for their own cathedrals during the Jubilee Year of Mercy in 2015, there will only be Holy Doors at the Vatican and in Rome this year.

10. The Jubilee Year concludes with the closing of the Holy Door at St. Peter's Basilica Jan. 6, 2026, on the feast of the Epiphany. However, the Holy Doors at Rome's other major basilicas will close Dec. 28, 2025, the same day dioceses are to end local celebrations of the Holy Year.

The Jubilee Year also looks ahead to 2033, when the church will mark the 2,000th anniversary of Jesus' passion, death and resurrection, which Pope Francis called "another fundamental celebration for all Christians."

— Maria Wiering, OSV News

1. Go to reconciliation

The idea of a jubilee or holy year is rooted in the jubilees marked by the Israelites, who saw every 50th year as a special time for forgiveness and reconciliation with God and others. They would leave their fields fallow, replenishing the soil, allow those under slavery to regain their freedom, return land to its former owners, and forgive debts that could not be repaid. Reconciliation and righting relationships are also at the heart of the church's holy years, making the sacrament of reconciliation a key component of this year. In the papal bull announcing the year, Pope Francis called the sacrament of reconciliation "the essential starting-point of any true journey of conversion." During the Jubilee, in local churches "special care should be taken to prepare priests and the faithful to celebrate the sacrament of Confession and to make it readily available in its individual form," he said. Expect many dioceses to hold a period of round-the-clock confessions for the Lenten initiative 24 Hours for the Lord March 28-29, 2025.

2. Read the jubilee document

Issued in May, "Spes Non Confundit" is the papal bull of indiction Pope Francis promulgated for the 2025 Jubilee Year. With the Holy Year's theme being "Pilgrims of Hope," it includes a scriptural reflection on hope, as well as an explanation of the meaning of a jubilee year; ideas and encouragement for Christians living out the Holy Year; appeals for accompaniment, mercy and charity for various people in need; and some of the key events and anniversaries the Holy Year will observe.

Among Pope Francis' words of wisdom is a reflection on patience, which he calls "both the daughter of hope and at the same time its firm foundation," but which, he said, "has been put to flight by frenetic haste" in an age of "now." "Were we still able to contemplate creation with a sense of awe, we might better understand the importance of patience" which "could only prove beneficial for ourselves and for others," he wrote. "Patience, one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit, sustains our hope and strengthens it as a virtue and a way of life."

3. Make a pilgrimage.

In "Spes Non Confundit," Pope Francis counts among the Jubilee Year's "pilgrims of hope" those "who, though unable to visit the City of the Apostles Peter and Paul, will celebrate it in their local Churches." "Pilgrimage is of course a fundamental element of every Jubilee event," he wrote. "Setting out on a journey is traditionally associated with our human quest for meaning in life. A pilgrimage on foot is a great aid for rediscovering the value of silence, effort and simplicity of life." While traditional pilgrimage routes to Rome and in Rome itself are expected to be well trod during the Holy Year, Catholics can also make pilgrimages to local holy sites, or even their own parishes, for prayer, confession or Mass. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops also provides special formularies and readings for a Mass for the Holy Year approved by the Holy See.

Many U.S. dioceses have designated particular parishes or holy sites to serve as pilgrimage sites during the Holy Year. These sites provide the opportunity for pilgrims to receive the Jubilee Indulgence, a grace that remits the temporal punishments of sin. The plenary indulgence can also be received through pious visits to sacred places and through performing works of mercy. Details about the indulgence are outlined in a special decree Pope Francis issued May 13.

4. Visit your cathedral

Unlike the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy 2015-2016, diocesan cathedrals will not designate Holy Doors to correspond with the traditional Holy Doors in Rome and at the Vatican. However, cathedrals are where diocesan bishops will officially open the Holy Year locally with Mass Dec. 29, the feast of the Holy Family. They will also be where bishops close local Holy Year celebrations Dec. 28, 2025. In the meantime, cathedrals are likely sites for diocesan Jubilee events. The Diocese of Grand Rapids, Michigan, for example, is planning seven pilgrimages to its Cathedral of St. Andrew over the course of the Holy Year for different groups, such as youth, parents and grandparents, and the Vietnamese and Hispanic communities.

5. Pray the Jubilee prayer

Pope Francis has issued a special Jubilee prayer. At 139 words in English, the prayer is easily incorporated into the daily prayers of an individual or a family. Among its stanzas is the phrase, "May the grace of the Jubilee reawaken in us, Pilgrims of Hope, a yearning for the treasures of heaven." It can be found by searching "Jubilee Prayer" at usccb.org.

6. Perform works of mercy

In "Spes Non Confundit," Pope Francis asks Catholics "to be tangible signs of hope for those of our brothers and sisters who experience hardships of any kind." He specifically mentions prisoners, a group he has highlighted by designating a Jubilee Holy Door at Rome's Rebibbia Prison. He also mentions signs of hope are needed by the sick, the young, migrants, the elderly and grandparents, and the poor. The Holy Year should inspire Catholics to increase their exercise of the corporal works of mercy -- feeding the hungry, giving water to the thirsty, clothing the naked, sheltering the homeless, visiting the sick, visiting the imprisoned and burying the dead.

7. Review the resources

The Vatican, the USCCB and many dioceses have online resources with information about the church's global and local celebrations of the Jubilee. They include information about the Jewish roots of jubilee years, their history in the Catholic Church, and how to spiritually prepare to receive the Jubilee Indulgence. The Vatican website (iubilaeum2025.va) includes a video of a choir performing "Pilgrims of Hope," the Jubilee's official hymn. With text written by Msgr. Pierangelo Sequeri, an Italian theologian and musicologist, the refrain focuses on the theme of hope: "Like a flame my hope is burning, may my song arise to you: Source of life that has no ending, on life's path I trust in you."

8. Practice hope

In "Spes Non Confundit," Pope Francis underscores that the hope the Jubilee offers is for the universal church. "In the heart of each person, hope dwells as the desire and expectation of good things to come, despite our not knowing what the future may bring," he wrote. Hope, he said, comes from Christ, and Christians deepen their hope through prayer, the sacraments and growing in virtue. "For everyone, may the Jubilee be a moment of genuine, personal encounter with the Lord Jesus, the 'door' (cf. Jn 10:7.9) of our salvation, whom the Church is charged to proclaim always, everywhere and to all as 'our hope' (1 Tim 1:1)," he wrote.

— Maria Wiering, OSV News

More online

A link to Pope Francis' May 13 decree on granting the Jubilee Indulgence is here: https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2024/05/13/240513f.html

Other USCCB resources are here: https://www.usccb.org/jubilee2025

Pope Francis offers absolution to a World Youth Day pilgrim after hearing his confession in Vasco da Gama Garden in Lisbon, Portugal, Aug. 4, 2023. The pope administered the sacrament to three pilgrims: young men from Italy and Spain, and a young woman from Guatemala. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

Fasting "at least for one day of the week from futile distractions" such as social media also can be a path toward a jubilee indulgence, according to norms published by the Vatican May 13.

Pope Francis said he will open the Holy Year at the Vatican Dec. 24 this year and close it Jan. 6, 2026, the feast of Epiphany. But he also asked bishops around the world to celebrate the Jubilee in their dioceses from Dec. 29 this year to Dec. 28, 2025.

For centuries a feature of holy year celebrations has been the indulgence, which the church describes as a remission of the temporal punishment a person is due for their sins.

"Every sin 'leaves its mark'" even after a person has received forgiveness and absolution through the sacrament of reconciliation, Pope Francis wrote in the document proclaiming the Holy Year. "Sin has consequences, not only outwardly in the effects of the wrong we do, but also inwardly, inasmuch as 'every sin, even venial, entails an unhealthy attachment to creatures, which must be purified either here on earth, or after death, in the state called Purgatory,'" he wrote, quoting the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

The norms for receiving an indulgence during the Holy Year were signed by Cardinal Angelo De Donatis, the new head of the Apostolic Penitentiary, a Vatican court dealing with matters of conscience and with the granting of indulgences.

The basic conditions, he wrote, are that a person is "moved by a spirit of charity," is "purified through the sacrament of penance and refreshed by Holy Communion" and prays for the pope. Along with a pilgrimage, a work of mercy or an act of penance, a Catholic "will be able to obtain from the treasury of the Church a plenary indulgence, with remission and forgiveness of all their sins, which can be applied in suffrage to the souls in Purgatory."

The Rome pilgrimage, Cardinal De Donatis said, can be to the papal basilicas of St. Peter's, St. Mary Major, St. John Lateran or St. Paul Outside the Walls. But also to one of the churches connected to outstanding women saints and doctors of the church: St. Catherine of Siena at the Basilica of Santa Maria sopra Minerva; St. Brigid of Sweden at Campo de' Fiori; St. Teresa of Avila at the Church of Santa Maria della Vittoria; St. Thérèse of Lisieux at Trinità dei Monti; and St. Monica at the Church of St. Augustine.

Pilgrims to the Holy Land also can receive the Holy Year indulgence by praying at the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, the Basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem or the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth.

For those who cannot travel abroad, local bishops around the world can designate their cathedral or another church or sacred place for pilgrims to obtain the indulgence, the cardinal wrote, asking bishops to "take into account the needs of the faithful as well as the opportunity to reinforce the concept of pilgrimage with all its symbolic significance, so as to manifest the great need for conversion and reconciliation."

People who cannot leave their residence -- "especially cloistered nuns and monks, but also the elderly, the sick, prisoners and those who, through their work in hospitals or other care facilities, provide continuous service to the sick" -- can spiritually join a pilgrimage and receive the indulgence, according to the norms.

Visiting the sick or a prisoner, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked or welcoming a migrant, "in a sense making a pilgrimage to Christ present in them," can be another way to receive the indulgence, the cardinal said, adding that an indulgence could be obtained each day from such acts of mercy.

"The Jubilee Plenary Indulgence can also be obtained through initiatives that put into practice, in a concrete and generous way, the spirit of penance which is, in a sense, the soul of the Jubilee," he wrote, highlighting in particular abstaining on Fridays from "futile distractions" like social media or from "superfluous consumption" by not eating meat.

"Supporting works of a religious or social nature, especially in support of the defense and protection of life in all its phases," helping a young person in difficulty or a recently-arrived migrant or immigrant -- anything involving "dedicating a reasonable portion of one's free time to voluntary activities that are of service to the community or to other similar forms of personal commitment" also are paths toward an indulgence, he said.

"Despite the rule that only one plenary indulgence can be obtained per day," Cardinal De Donatis wrote, "the faithful who have carried out an act of charity on behalf of the souls in Purgatory, if they receive Holy Communion a second time that day, can obtain the plenary indulgence twice on the same day," although the second indulgence is "applicable only to the deceased."

 — Cindy Wooden, Catholic News Service