What is the significance of a Jubilee Year?

Q: What is the significance of a Jubilee Year? (Lakeland, Florida)

A: The short answer is, a Jubilee Year is a special year of grace and reconciliation. Today, the Catholic Church celebrates a Jubilee Year every 25 years, although the Pope can also declare an “extra” extraordinary Jubilee year between the regularly-scheduled jubilees (as Pope Francis did from December 2015 –November 2016 with the Year of Mercy.) The year 2000 was a Jubilee year, as is this upcoming year 2025.

The concept of a Jubilee year is rooted in the ancient Jewish tradition described in chapter 25 of the book Leviticus. As we read: “You shall count seven weeks of years –seven times seven years–such that the seven weeks of years amount to forty-nine years. (…) You shall treat this fiftieth year as sacred. You shall proclaim liberty in the land for all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, when each of you shall return to your own property, each of you to your own family” (Lv 25:8,10).

In fact, the word “jubilee” originates from the name of the ram’s horn, called a “yobel,” which is sounded on Yom Kippur, the Jewish holy day of atonement and which was used to mark the opening of a jubilee year.

As the Vatican Jubilee website describes, the Catholic adaptation of jubilee years began in the Middle Ages: “In 1300, Pope Boniface VIII called the first Jubilee, also known as a ‘Holy Year,’ since it is a time in which God’s holiness transforms us. The frequency of Holy Years has changed over time: at first, they were celebrated every 100 years; later, in 1343 Pope Clement VI reduced the gap between Jubilees to every 50 years, and in 1470 Pope Paul II made it every 25 years.”

There are a number of ways in which Catholics can participate in the Jubilee year. The most traditional Jubilee observance is making a pilgrimage, as pilgrimages are emblematic of our life’s journey towards God and of conversion in general. Historically, the “classic” Jubilee pilgrimage was to the four major basilicas in Rome: St. John Lateran, St. Peter’s, St. Mary Major, and St. Paul outside the walls. Today, while many Catholics still make the traditional pilgrimage to Rome for the Jubilee, local diocesan bishops typically designate a local site, such as the cathedral or a local shrine, as a Jubilee pilgrimage destination for those who are unable to travel to Rome.

Connected with the tradition of pilgrimage, another key symbol of the Jubilee is the holy door, which reminds us of Jesus’ saying in the Gospel of John: “I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture” (Jn 10:9). The Jubilee formally begins with Pope Francis opening the until-now sealed holy door in St. Peter’s basilica on December 24, 2024; and there are holy doors in all the major Roman basilicas which pilgrims may pass through as a sign of their desire to return to the Lord or renew their relationship with God.

Finally, another major part of a Jubilee year is the special opportunities to earn indulgences. An indulgence is “the remission in the sight of God of the temporal punishment due for sins, the guilt of which has already been forgiven” (Canon 922).

Indulgences are attached to certain prayers or pious acts which the faithful who are properly disposed –that is, spiritually healthy and free from attachment to sin –may fulfill in order to free themselves from the need for purgatory or to hasten the journey to heaven for a soul that is already in purgatory. Indulgences are an especially beautiful way to commemorate the Jubilee, as they perfectly represent the Jubilee themes of reconciliation and return to God.

Jenna Marie Cooper, who holds a licentiate in canon law, is a consecrated virgin and a canonist whose column appears weekly at OSV News. Send your questions to CatholicQA@osv.com.