Pope Francis: “Let us experience the Jubilee with enthusiasm and participation”

The Jubilee is a "favorable time to put reconciliation with God and between ourselves back at the center of our lives", and should be lived "with enthusiasm and participation". With these words Pope Francis described the Holy Year in a Message sent to the Roman newspaper Il Messaggero to mark its 145th anniversary.

In this way, the Pontiff, continues to communicate and deepen awareness of the civic and universal significance of the next Jubilee of the Catholic Church, which will take placein 2025. “The Eternal City,” wrote the Holy Father, “will once more be a pole of attraction for the relaunch of the Christian message with the aim of rekindling hope in those who, in the hardships of life and with their own interior expectations, will arrive here as pilgrims".

The Jubilee, in fact, is not "a religious practice to be seen as an end in itself" but "a process which, although starting from individuals, involves interpersonal relationships, with the aim of promoting a vision of a better and more just society".  In this sense the Holy Year "has a value that is not exclusively religious, but also ethical, moral, and social, promoting a cultural rebirth, capable of healing the wounds caused by injustice and the various forms of violence". It will have the aim of "re-establishing a collective climate of trust and hope, and of initiating processes of integral human growth, with special attention being paid to the most vulnerable in society".

The themes of mercy and forgiveness are central, as these are signs of the living presence of the Father. Through the celebration of the Holy Year, "the Church wishes to recall the importance of rethinking one's existence and asking forgiveness for one's shortcomings, in the certainty that the God of mercy and compassion comes to renew and reconcile us".

It is therefore “a year in which to give shape to the biblical theme of liberation,”  concludes Pope Francis, “in all its anthropological and community implications,” by undertaking “actions and opening paths capable of liberating people, cities, nations and peoples from every form of slavery and degradation." It is no coincidence that the motto that the Holy Father has chosen for the 2025 Jubilee, "Pilgrims of Hope", reminds us that one can truly put oneself at the service of others, but only if anchored to the Lord.