Diocese to join Jubilee Year celebrations

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SALT LAKE CITY — Pope Francis has proclaimed 2025 as a Jubilee Year, a year of prayer. He did so in a formal ceremony before the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica on Ascension Thursday, May 9. At that time, he released a papal bull, the Bull of Indiction, Spes non confundit (Hope does not disappoint).

“In the course of the year every effort should be made to enable the People of God to participate fully in its proclamation of hope in God’s grace and in the signs that attest to their efficacy,” he wrote in Spes non confundit.

“Pilgrims of Hope” is the theme for the Jubilee Year, which officially begins on Dec. 24 at 7 p.m., when the Holy Father will open the Holy Door of the Papal Basilica of St. Peter.

On Dec. 29, Pope Francis will open the Holy Door of the Archbasilica of St John Lateran, the Cathedral of Rome. The Diocese of Salt Lake City will kick off its observances on that same day with two Masses at the Cathedral of the Madeleine.

The Masses, at 11 a.m. in English and 3 p.m. Spanish, will include a procession, singing of the Jubilee Hymn and a special pilgrim cross for veneration. The pilgrim cross will be carried in procession with candles, adorned, and placed near the altar for the entire Jubilee Year.

Four other churches across the diocese have been chosen as pilgrimage sites: Saint George Catholic Church, St. George; Saint Francis of Assisi Catholic Church, Orem; Saint Joseph Catholic Church, Ogden; and Notre Dame de Lourdes Catholic Church, Price. During the Jubilee Year, Utah Catholics are encouraged to make a pilgrimage to one or more of these sites, to seek forgiveness through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, attend Mass and receive the Eucharist, participate in Scripture study and prayer, and perform works of Mercy.

“We want to encourage our parishioners, our students in our schools, our families, to journey to these sites, journey to at least one of them during the course of the year, ideally, and even better, visit them all,” said Father John Evans, vicar general.  

Fr. Evans encourages local Catholics to attend Mass at the pilgrimage sites throughout the year and to “spend time not praying only for oneself, but for others that are in need of hope, recognizing where the redemptive work of God is needed, where the healing of God is needed,” he said.

Notre Dame de Lourdes Parish is planning activities throughout the year to celebrate the jubilee. Though plans are not yet final, these activities may include Scripture study and prayer, educational and catechetical programs focused on hope, and reaching out to the greater community through service projects and other initiatives. Other parishes in the diocese may offer special Masses throughout the year.

Fr. Arokia Dass David, pastor of Notre Dame de Lourdes Parish, will also lead a jubilee pilgrimage trip to Rome, the Vatican, Padua, Florence, Lourdes and Fatima Oct. 20 – Nov. 1, 2025. Visit https://www.notredameprice.com/jubilee-year-2025.html for information.

Those who participate in Holy Year activities will be granted a plenary indulgence if they meet the usual criteria.

“God’s holy and faithful people has experienced this celebration [Jubilee Year] as a special gift of grace, characterized by the forgiveness of sins and in particular by the indulgence, which is a full expression of the mercy of God,” Pope Francis wrote in Spes non confundit.

Jubilee years have been common in the Church since 1300, when Pope Boniface VIII called the first Jubilee, also known as a “Holy Year.” The frequency of Holy Years has changed over time: at first, they were celebrated every 100 years; later it was every 50 years and in 1470 Pope Paul II made it every 25 years. There have also been “extraordinary” Holy Years; for example, in 1933 Pope Pius XI chose to commemorate the 1,900th anniversary of the Redemption, and in 2015 Pope Francis proclaimed the Year of Mercy as an extraordinary jubilee.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has a special section on its website with information about traveling to Rome for the Holy Year and for celebrating the special jubilees in one’s own diocese or parish, visit www.usccb.org/committees/jubilee-2025. More information also may be found on the diocesan website at https://www.dioslc.org/jubilee-2025-pilgrims-of-hope.