The Pope officially declares 2025 the Jubilee Year

Salvatore Cernuzio, Jānis Evertovskis – Vatican

A “bull” is an official document usually written in Latin and sealed with the papal seal. In translation, this word means a round object. This is due to the shape of the seal. The Bull is the most official and solemn of all papal documents, second only to the Privileges. Each bull can be recognized by the first words. For example, Saint John Paul II proclaimed the 2000 Jubilee year with a bull Incarnationis mysterium (Mystery of Salvation), but Pope Francis – the 2016 Year of God’s Mercy with a bull Misericordiae vultus (The Face of Mercy). The bull of the 2025 jubilee year begins with the words: Spes non confundit (Hope does not disappoint).

The Pope asks for hope as a gift to a world in which weapons are heard and marked by death, destruction, hatred of one’s neighbor, hunger, “ecological debt”, low birth rate. Hope is the balm that Francis wants to apply to the wounds of humanity oppressed by the “brutality of violence” or subjected to the exponential growth of poverty.

Excerpts of the Bull were read on May 9 in St. Peter’s Basilica during Vespers for the Feast of the Ascension, when the Pope presented it to the Churches of five continents. The document, consisting of 25 points, includes prayers, proposals, appeals for the benefit of prisoners, the sick, the elderly, the poor and the young, as well as announcing the news of the Holy Year. The theme of the anniversary year will be “Pilgrims of Hope”.

Common Easter date

In the document, Pope Francis reminds us of two important anniversaries: in 2033, the two thousandth anniversary of the Redemption will be celebrated and the 1700th anniversary of the first great Ecumenical Council of Nicaea, which, among other things, considered the topic of the dating of Easter. Today, “different positions” still prevent us from celebrating the event that is the basis of our faith on one day – the Pope emphasizes, recalling that “due to providential circumstances, it will happen in 2025” (17).

Let this be a call to all Christians in East and West to take a decisive step towards unity around a common Easter date.

Opening of the Holy Door

The Pope announces that the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica will be opened on December 24, 2024. Next Sunday, December 29, the Bishop of Rome will open the Holy Door of the Basilica of St. John Lateran; On January 1, 2025, on the Feast of Mary, the Mother of God, the doors of the Basilica of Saint Mary the Great will be opened, and on January 5, the Holy Doors of the Basilica of Saint Paul outside the Walls will be opened. All three doors will be closed by December 28 of the same year. The jubilee year will end with the closing of the Holy Doors of St. Peter’s Basilica on January 6, 2026 (6).

Signs of the times

Francis expresses his hope that the “first sign of hope” of the Jubilee Year will be peace in a world once again affected by the tragedy of war.

Without remembering the tragedies of the past, humanity is experiencing a new and severe test when many nations are oppressed by the brutality of violence. How do these nations still lack what they have not yet endured? How is it possible that their desperate cry for help does not encourage the desire of the leaders of nations to end too many regional conflicts, knowing that this may have consequences on a global scale? Is it too much to dream that guns will fall silent and stop bringing destruction and death? (8).

A call to increase the birth rate

Pope Francis looks with concern at the “decline in the birth rate” which, for various reasons, is observed in several countries. The problem is based on the “feverish rhythm of life”, “fear about the future”, “lack of job guarantees and social protection”, “social models”, where the pursuit of profit prevails rather than mutual relations. According to the Pope, there is an “urgent need” for the “firm support” of the faithful and civil society for the “desire” of young people to have children, so that the future will be “marked by the smiles of many little boys and girls”. The Holy Father wishes children to fill all those too many cradles that have become empty (9).

Respecting the personal dignity of prisoners

In the document, we read that Francis encourages giving “tangible signs of hope” to the prisoners. He suggests that governments issue “amnesties or commute sentences” and find ways to better help ex-prisoners reintegrate into society. The Pope specifically calls for “decent conditions for prisoners, to respect their human rights” and to “abolish the death penalty” (10). To give the prisoners a concrete sign of closeness, the Pope himself will open the Holy Door in one of the prisons.

Hope for the sick and the young

Signs of hope will also be given to the sick at home or in the hospital: “Caring for them is a hymn to human dignity” (11). Hope is also needed for young people who are so often forced to watch their “dreams crumble”.

The illusion of drugs, the risk of transgression and the desire for temporary things cause them more confusion than others and hide the beauty and meaning of life, forcing them to sink into dark abysses and act self-destructively (12).

“We must not let them down”, stresses Francis.

No to prejudice against migrants

The Pope once again asks that the hopes of migrants “not be hindered by prejudice and isolation”.

Many exiles, refugees and asylum seekers forced to flee by controversial international events to escape wars, violence and discrimination must be guaranteed security and access to work and education, which are necessary tools for their integration into the new social context (13).

Poverty is a scandal

In the bull, the Pope also does not forget about the many elderly people who experience loneliness and abandonment. He also does not forget the “billions” of poor people who “do not have the necessities of life” and who “suffer from the exclusion and indifference of many”. It is scandalous that the majority of the world’s population is poor, while the world “has enormous resources, which are mostly used to arm themselves” (15). Francis calls on those with wealth to be generous and repeatedly offers to create a worldwide Fund “to eventually eliminate hunger” using money raised from military spending (16).

Debt cancellation for poor countries

Another urgent call is addressed to the wealthiest countries to “commit to canceling the debts of those countries that will never be able to repay them.” “It is a question of justice”, writes Pope Francis, “which today is exacerbated by a new type of injustice”, such as the “ecological debt”, especially between North and South (16).

The testimony of the martyrs

In the jubilee bull, the Pope invites us to pay attention to the testimony of the martyrs of various Christian traditions and asks that during the Holy Year “there should be no lack of ecumenical services” (20).

The importance of confession and the ministry of the Missionaries of Mercy

Francis speaks about the Sacrament of Reconciliation and announces that the Missionaries of Mercy will continue their ministry. The Holy Father asks the bishops to send them to places where “hope is put to the test” or where “the dignity of the person is put to the test” (23).

Call to Eastern and Orthodox Churches

The Pope makes a “special appeal” to the faithful of the Eastern Churches, who “have suffered so much, often to the point of death, for their fidelity to Christ and the Church.” These brothers “must feel especially welcome in this Rome, which is also their Mother”. His thoughts also turn to the Orthodox brothers and sisters who, forced to leave their homeland due to violence and instability, are already going through the “Pilgrimage of the Cross”.

Visit Marian shrines for prayer

The Holy Father invites all pilgrims who will come to the Eternal City to stop by the shrines of Our Lady to ask for her help and protection, and thus “to experience the intimacy of the most loving mother who never leaves her children” (24).