The official hymn for the Jubilee of 2025
The competition to compose the official Jubilee hymn was won by Italian Maestro Francesco Meneghello from Padua. The competition, which drew entries from composers all over the world, closed on March 25 2023, and saw the participation of 270 entrants from 38 different countries. Among them were four musicians from Brazil, four from the Philippines, fifteen from Germany, one from Madagascar, two from Nigeria, one from Puerto Rico, one from Indonesia, one from Hong Kong and one from the Ivory Coast.
The average age of the composers who took part in the competition was 48. The text which had to be set to music, was written by Professor Pierangelo Sequeri, a theologian and expert in music who has written lyrics which are famous across the globe. The choice of the winning composition was made by an international commission which met in Rome on April 18 2023 to consider the entries, with the winner being announced at a press conference held the following month on May 9 2023.
The Vatican’s Sistine Choir has produced a recording of the Jubilee hymn which is downloadable from this site. The musical scores will also soon be available.