Every 25 years in the Church, in keeping with an ancient tradition, the Pope proclaims a “Jubilee Year,” during which special graces are available to all the Catholic faithful. A Jubilee Year is a gift from Holy Mother Church intended to renew our faith and remind us of the great calling we have, both to sanctity and to, “Go and make disciples.”
For the 2025 Jubilee Year, Pope Francis has selected the theme, "Pilgrims of Hope." In his Papal Bull announcing the Jubilee Year, Pope Francis reflects,
"Everyone knows what it is to hope. 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. 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. Taking it as our guide, let us return to the message that the Apostle Paul wished to communicate to the Christians of Rome. " (Spes Non Confundit, 1)
In our archdiocese, the opening of the Jubilee Year will take place at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help on Sunday, December 29, 2024. A procession from the Connor Center will begin at 9:30 a.m., followed by a solemn Mass in the cathedral at 10 a.m.
The following churches have been designated as pilgrimage sites in the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City during the 2025 Jubilee Year:
Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help (Oklahoma City)
Blessed Stanley Rother Shrine (Oklahoma City)
St. Gregory’s Abbey (Shawnee)
Holy Trinity (Okarche)
Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima (Bison)
Shrine of the Infant Jesus of Prague (Prague)
When visiting one of the Jubilee churches, pilgrims may obtain a plenary indulgence by attending any of the following at the site:
Holy Mass
a celebration of the Word of God
the Liturgy of the Hours (office of readings, lauds, vespers)
the Via Crucis
the Marian Rosary
the recitation of the Akathist hymn
a penitential celebration, which ends with the individual confessions of the penitents, as established in the Rite of Penance (Apostolic Penitentiary, Decree, I)
The faithful may similarly obtain this plenary indulgence “if, individually or in a group, they devoutly visit any Jubilee site and there, for a suitable period of time, engage in Eucharistic adoration and meditation [even if the Blessed Sacrament is not exposed], concluding with the Our Father, the Profession of Faith in any legitimate form, and invocations to Mary, the Mother of God.” (Apostolic Penitentiary, Decree, II)
A plenary, or partial, indulgence is “a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven.” (CCC 1471)
In order to obtain a plenary indulgence, the faithful must be duly disposed in the following ways:
be truly repentant and free from any affection for sin
are moved by a spirit of charity
are purified through the sacrament of penance and refreshed by Holy Communion
pray for the intentions of the Pope
To read more about the norms for receiving a plenary indulgence during the Jubilee Year, click here for an article from Catholic News service on the topic.
Ways to obtain a plenary indulgence, under the standard norms, during the Jubilee Year:
pilgrimages
pious visits to sacred places
works of mercy and penance
When visiting one of the Jubilee churches, pilgrims may obtain a plenary indulgence by attending any of the following at the site:
Holy Mass
a celebration of the Word of God
the Liturgy of the Hours (office of readings, lauds, vespers)
the Via Crucis
the Marian Rosary
the recitation of the Akathist hymn
a penitential celebration, which ends with the individual confessions of the penitents, as established in the Rite of Penance (Apostolic Penitentiary, Decree, I)
The faithful may similarly obtain this plenary indulgence “if, individually or in a group, they devoutly visit any Jubilee site and there, for a suitable period of time, engage in Eucharistic adoration and meditation [even if the Blessed Sacrament is not exposed], concluding with the Our Father, the Profession of Faith in any legitimate form, and invocations to Mary, the Mother of God.” (Apostolic Penitentiary, Decree, II)
2025 Jubilee Year Prayer
Father in heaven, may the faith you have given us in your son, Jesus Christ, our brother, and the flame of charity 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.