Mission Adviser for the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, Elliot Vanstone, shares the significance of this Jubilee year
The Catholic Church is currently celebrating the Jubilee Year of 2025, a sacred occasion of pilgrimage, prayer, and renewal. Pope Francis has chosen the theme Pilgrims of Hope, calling the faithful to deepen their relationship with God and embrace the future with trust and love.
The meaning of a Jubilee Year
The word “Jubilee” comes from the Hebrew yobel, meaning “ram’s horn,” used to announce the sacred year. A Jubilee Year, held every 25 years, is a time of grace, renewal, and mercy. Rooted in Leviticus 25:10, it proclaims liberty and restoration. Since Pope Boniface VIII instituted the first Christian Jubilee in 1300, these years have been marked by pilgrimage, indulgences, and deepened faith.
Pope Francis’ vision: Pilgrims of Hope
Pope Francis envisions the Jubilee 2025 as a moment to rekindle hope, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and global challenges. He urges Catholics to become “pilgrims of hope,” embodying faith and trust in God’s providence.
In the Papal Bull for the Jubilee Year, Spes Non Confundit, Pope Francis reminds us: “The Jubilee is a time when we rediscover the joy of being reconciled with God and with one another, allowing hope to shape our lives.”(Spes Non Confundit, §3). This Jubilee invites all to embrace that hope and its transformative power.
The Jubilee in England and Wales
For Catholics in England and Wales, the Jubilee is an opportunity for personal and communal renewal. Dioceses are organising pilgrimages, special Masses, and reconciliation services. Shrines and cathedrals will play a key role in spiritual renewal, encouraging acts of mercy and deeper engagement with faith. Pilgrimages, long central to Catholic tradition, symbolise the faithful’s journey with Christ.
Explore pilgrimage opportunities
This Jubilee also invites reflection on how the Church serves society, especially the poor and marginalised. Pope Francis calls the Church a “field hospital” where all should feel welcome and valued (Evangelii Gaudium, §47).
Jubilee 2025 calls Catholics to be ‘missionary disciples’, spreading Christ’s love through service, justice, and peace. Pope Francis reminds us: “Faith does not remove us from the world but draws us more deeply into it.”
As we journey through this sacred year, let us embrace God’s mercy, deepen our faith, and live out the Gospel with renewed hope.
“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord… to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11).
What is a Jubilee year?
CTE Trustee and Auxiliary Bishop, Kent Area, RC Archdiocese of Southwark Rt Rev Paul Hendricks explores the 2025 Jubilee theme
The Biblical concept of Jubilee, as laid out in Leviticus 25, is based on the concept that ‘The Lord’s is the earth and its fulness, the world and all its peoples’ (Psalm 24), and that any human claim to land – or indeed possessions of any sort – must always be conditional. When Joshua led his people into the promised land, God allotted particular areas to each tribe, clan and family. These could not be sold but only, in a sense, lent to any purchaser. Every fifty years, in the year of Jubilee, they reverted to their original occupier. The buyer was paying for the use of the land, for the number of years until the next Jubilee.
When a Jubilee year is proclaimed by the Church in modern times, the context is very different, but the underlying idea is the same. What we have, comes from God and is given to us in trust, and for a limited time. It must be used responsibly, not only for the benefit of the ‘owner’ but as far as possible for the common good. The same is true, above all, for our own life. It is given to us for a limited time and one day we will have to account for the use we have made of it.
The theme of Jubilee resonates with two vitally important encyclicals of Pope Francis: Laudato Sì (on care for our common home) and Fratelli Tutti (on fraternity and social friendship). Our assumption that ownership of the land and its resources allows us to exploit them as we wish, has led to an ecological catastrophe which may yet destroy us. Similarly, without the corrective of Gospel values, the powerful will always exploit the vulnerable, leading to wars, crime, injustice and many other evils. These two encyclicals are a call to conversion – ecological and social.
Just as the Biblical Jubilee was an occasion for the restoration of property, the freeing of slaves and the forgiveness of debts, so a modern Jubilee is a call to be reconciled with God and with each other. God has forgiven our debts, but only ‘as we forgive those who trespass against us.’
In this particular Jubilee year, Pope Francis has emphasised themes of pilgrimage and hope. The ancient tradition of pilgrimage symbolises our journey through life, following in the footsteps of Jesus. Whether local, national or international – or some form of spiritual pilgrimage – they are an opportunity to grow in faith and to seek spiritual renewal.
The title of the Papal document proclaiming the Jubilee Year, Spes Non Confundit, is taken from Romans 5:5, ‘Hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit.’ The Jubilee is a call to embrace that hope and to allow it to transform our lives.
Find out more about the Jubilee Year 2025 in England and Wales.