In the Vatican they think long term, and seeing the direction that the 21st century was taking, Pope Francis decided a long time ago to dedicate this Jubilee 2025 to “hope.” His idea is not to instil optimism, but to launch an authentic spiritual provocation. On the one hand, it proposes that civil society put into practice “gestures of hope”, such as helping to buy homes, create jobs or reintegrate people who have been in prison. On the other hand, it is a direct response to those who “look at the future with skepticism and pessimism, as if nothing could offer them happiness.”
Francis invites Catholics to get going this year, make a pilgrimage to the city of Rome and cross the holy door of the Vatican as a way to reconsider one’s own life through the lens of hope. Symbolically, he will open another “holy door” in the prison of Rome. He explained to believers that it is about remembering “the certainty that nothing and no one can ever separate us from divine love.”
For others, the key is to “recover the necessary trust in interpersonal ties, in international relations, in the promotion of the dignity of every person and in respect for creation.” Also one of its main projects is to ensure that starting this year, all Christian confessions celebrate the Resurrection of Christ on the same daybecause until today Catholics and Orthodox follow different calendars.
Personal involvement of each pilgrim
True to his style, the Pope has prevented the emphasis of the Jubilee from being on the big eventsalthough there will be some, and it is requesting the personal and intimate involvement of each pilgrim. Although it is estimated that at least 30 million people will answer his call and plan to visit Rome this year.
The Romans are accustomed to the fact that every 25 years the Eternal City becomes a “holy city” for Christians and they have carried out more than 300 public works to welcome them with their best face. They have put in so much effort that the Pope had to tell them that although “these works are good,” they must not forget “the works in the soul.” «The true Jubilee goes withinin your hearts, in your family and social relationships, that is where it is worth working,” Francis said on December 8.
The machinery was set in motion in 2020, when in a letter for the 150 years of the institution of Rome as capital, Pope Francis confirmed that he would call a Jubilee for this year. Two years later, in 2022, he announced that he would be dedicated to hope, and last May he made public the exhausting calendar of events that he will preside over and that, at 88 years old, will put his health to the test.
Various ‘jubilees’ throughout the year
Specific ‘jubilees’ or pilgrimages will be celebrated throughout the year. For example, the first will be on January 25, 2025, and will be dedicated to media representatives. From then on, There will be days dedicated to other groups such as members of the armed forces, rulers, artists, judges, athletes, influencers, workers or families.
Between May 16 and 18 it will be the ‘Jubilee of the Brotherhoods’which has raised enormous expectations in Rome, and for which the thrones of the “Virgin of Hope” from Malaga and “El Cachorro” from Seville will travel to the Eternal City, and will procession through its streets.
The largest jubilee will be that of the youngfor which one and a half million boys and girls from all over the world are expected, from July 28 to August 3. The last jubilees will be very symbolic: one dedicated to the “homeless” people, on November 16; and another to people from prison on December 14.
30 million pilgrims
The person responsible for organizing it on behalf of the Vatican is Archbishop Rino Fisichella, a very effective 73-year-old Lombard bishop who perfectly put together the Year of Mercy called by Francis in 2016. Fisichella has designed an agenda to facilitate each group of pilgrims « live the experience of the Jubilee. «We suggest that you cross the holy door and dedicate some time to prayer.. They will also hold a meeting with the Pope and in some cases a mass,” he describes. In addition, participants will be offered “encounters with the city of Rome, thematic tours to better understand its churches, and round tables and cultural events.”
“In the Jubilee of the year 2000, almost 23 million pilgrims came to Rome,” he says. «In 2016, some 22 million people passed through the ‘holy door’. Now we expect 30 million,” he acknowledges, showing forecasts from the Università Roma Tre. According to his calculations from a few months ago, 795,000 will come from Spain.
Endemic problems
For Rome, the Jubilee is the perfect excuse to solve some endemic problems. Mario Draghi’s government gave special powers to its mayor, Roberto Gualtieri, to make decisions quickly. This has allowed most public works to be launched without getting lost in a bureaucratic limbo, and to finish them on time. «When I met with the Pope he told me that it would be great if the Jubilee helped make Rome even more beautifulespecially for the Romans, and that is what we are trying,” Gualtieri assured during a meeting with the foreign press. It has undertaken 323 public works. These are mainly tunnels to improve circulation, redesign of squares and pedestrianization of avenues, with the idea that pilgrims walk along them.
«Rome was not built to be explored by car or double-decker bus. It must be experienced on foot, and that is why we insist on the pilgrimage, which is also an icon of one’s existence,” confirms Fisichella. The most emblematic work is a tunnel that has allowed pedestrianization of the great avenue that connects Rome and the Vatican, the “Via della Conciliazione” and which was inaugurated by Giorgia Meloni this Monday.
More holy doors
In addition to the holy door of the Vatican, holy doors will open in the coming days in the other three papal basilicas in Rome (Saint John Lateran, Saint Mary Major and Saint Paul Outside the Walls) and in a city jail. “The most important thing about the Jubilee is indulgence, jubilee forgiveness,” Rino Fisichella religiously clarifies. «In the past some interpreted it in a cartoonish way, but it means mercy and forgiveness. To obtain it, it is not mandatory to come to Rome, since it is granted to those who carry out charitable and spiritual works,” he explains.
Rome is ready to welcome pilgrims with open arms. The Swiss Guard has asked former recruits for help to reinforce its small army; and the press office is also strengthening staff.
The jubilees rthey remember the round anniversaries of the birth of Christ. The first was in the year 1300, and the idea was to repeat it every 100 years. Little by little, it evolved to its current format, when the Pontiff convenes them every 25 years so that all generations have the possibility of participating. It will be the 25th jubilee in history. Although the next one will not be in the year 2050, but rather an “extraordinary” one in 2033 to commemorate the two thousand years of the Passion of Christ.
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