St. Paul Catholic Church
2025 Jubilee Year
The 2025 Jubilee officially began on Christmas Eve with the opening of the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome and concludes on Jan. 6, 2026, on the Feast of the Epiphany. The jubilees take place every 25 years.
​
Why is the Jubilee such an important event for Catholics? This generational event provides an opportunity for reconciliation, plenary indulgences and other events intended to strengthen and revive our faith.
A plenary indulgence returns the soul to the state it was when we received baptism. In the sacrament of penance, sins are forgiven but temporal punishment remains. An indulgence remits this punishment. This opportunity is a privilege reserved for specific times and places such as the jubilee year. The requirements to obtain the jubilee indulgence are as follows:
“All the faithful, who are truly repentant and free from any affection for sin, who are moved by a spirit of charity and who, during the holy year, purified through the sacrament of penance and refreshed by holy Communion, pray for the intentions of the supreme pontiff, will be able to obtain from the treasury of the Church a plenary indulgence, with remission and forgiveness of all their sins, which can be applied in suffrage to the souls in purgatory.”
The Vatican’s Office of the Apostolic Penitentiary explained that plenary indulgences remove the temporal punishment (Purgatory time) for sins that have already been forgiven. These indulgences can be applied to souls currently suffering in Purgatory.
During the Jubilee Year, the faithful can obtain up to two plenary indulgences per day for the souls of the faithful departed.
​
How to Obtain a Plenary Indulgence
​
In order to gain a plenary indulgence, the faithful must fulfill the following usual requirements:
-
Detachment from all sin, including venial sin, as well as a sacramental confession. One confession can serve for several plenary indulgences (it should be within approximately 20 days of the indulgence.)
-
Each indulgence must also include the reception of Holy Communion
-
Prayers for the Holy Father’s intentions, the condition of praying for the intentions of the Supreme Pontiff is fulfilled by reciting one Our Father and one Hail Mary.
​
The Vatican states that the faithful can then fulfill one of the following to obtain the indulgence:
I. Make a Pilgrimage to Rome and pray for the Pope’s intentions in any one of the Four Major Papal Basilicas (St. Peter’s Basilica, the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran, St. Mary Major, or St. Paul Outside the Walls) or any of the special Jubilee churches listed by the Apostolic penitentiary in Rome.
​
II. Make a pilgrimage to one of the following churches in Italy: Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, Basilica of Our Lady of the Angels in Assisi, Basilica of Our Lady of Loreto Basilica of Our Lady of Pompeii, Basilica in St. Anthony in Padua, or in the Holy Land: Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, Basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem, Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth.
​
III. Perform an extraordinary work of mercy such as a generous gift to the poor, or visiting nursing homes or prisons
​
IV. Participate in diocesan or parish sponsored spiritual exercises, missions, or formation activities based on the documents of the Second Vatican Council or the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
​
V. Visit any local Cathedral, Marian Shrine, or other special church designated by the local bishop for obtaining the Jubilee Indulgence (see location for our diocese below)
​
VI. Fasting at least one day a week from “futile distractions” such as social media, television, video games, certain phone apps.
​
The designated locations in our diocese where the faithful can participate in the Jubilee Year of Hope are as follows:
​
Official Vatican Decree from Apostolic Penitentiary
on how to obtain indulgences during the 2025 Jubilee Year
​
https://www.usccb.org/jubilee2025
​
https://www.usccb.org/news/2024/vatican-norms-jubilee-indulgence-include-pilgrimage-penance-service
2025 Jubilee Year Prayer
Father in Heaven,
May the faith you have given us in your son, Jesus Christ, our brother, and the flame of charity enkindled in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, reawaken in us the blessed hope for the coming of your Kingdom.
May your grace transform us into tireless cultivators of the seeds of the Gospel. May those seeds transform from within both humanity and the whole cosmos in the sure expectation of a new heaven and a new earth when, with the powers of Evil vanquished, your glory will shine eternally.
May the grace of the Jubile reawaken in us, Pilgrims of Hope, a yearning for the treasures of heaven May that same grace spread the joy and peace of our Redeemer throughout the earth.
To you our God, eternally blessed, be glory and praise forever.
​
Amen
