On May 9, 2024, Pope Francis formally announced the opening of the Holy Year 2025 with his apostolic letter “Spes non confudit (Hope does not disappoint), Romans 5:5.” With its theme “Pilgrims of Hope,” the Holy Year 2025 officially began for the universal Church on December 24, 2024, when Pope Francis customarily opened the bronze Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica.
In the Diocese of Trenton, I formally opened the Holy Year 2025 on the weekend of December 28-29, 2024 during Masses at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption in Trenton, New Jersey (December 28, 2024) and at St. Robert Bellarmine Co-Cathedral in Freehold, New Jersey (December 29, 2024).
Prior to the start of the Dec. 28 Mass, Bishop O’Connell stands in the narthex of St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral, Trenton, and reads a portion of the papal bull as he declares the start of the Jubilee Year 2025 in the Diocese. Mike Ehrmann photo
His Holiness Pope Leo XIV will officially conclude the Holy Year 2025 for the universal Church on January 6, 2026, the Solemnity of the Epiphany, customarily closing the bronze Holy Door before Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.
As Bishop, I decree that the Diocese of Trenton will simultaneously conclude its observance of the Holy Year 2025 on that same date and Solemnity, thanking God for all the graces and blessings He has bestowed on the universal and local Church throughout the Holy Year 2025.
Given at the Chancery of the Diocese of Trenton on January 2 in the Year of Our Lord 2026.
Respectfully yours in the Lord,
Most Reverend David M. O’Connell, C.M., J.C.D.
Bishop of Trenton
