We have been given a wonderful opportunity to obtain God’s grace through a Plenary Indulgence by visiting a pilgrimage site during the Jubilee Year 2025. All are encouraged to participate, especially children.

The origins of Jubilee Years are ancient and noble. Jubilee, or Holy Years originated from ancient Jewish tradition but were officially established in the Catholic Church by Pope Boniface VIII in 1300.

Origins and Early History

• Biblical Roots: The concept of a jubilee year stems from the Old Testament Book of Leviticus, where every 50th year was a time for liberation, debt forgiveness, and land restoration.

• Pope Boniface VIII: In 1300, he declared the first Christian Holy Year, or Jubilee, in a period of suffering, calling for a pilgrimage to Rome to seek spiritual renewal. This Jubilee, announced with the bull Antiquorum Habet Fida Relatio, offered plenary indulgences to pilgrims.

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Evolution of the Jubilee Cycle

• Reduced Frequency: Originally intended as a 100-year event, a plea from the people led Pope Clement VI to reduce the frequency to 50 years in 1342.

• The 25-Year Cycle: In 1470, Pope Paul II further reduced the interval to 25 years to allow each generation to experience a Jubilee.

 

Significance and Practices

• Pilgrimage: A key component of the Jubilee Year is a pilgrimage to Rome to visit sacred sites and the tombs of the Apostles Peter and Paul, or to alternate sites designated by a local bishop or Archbishop. (List below)

• Holy Doors: During a Jubilee, the Holy Doors of the four major basilicas in Rome are opened, and faithful are invited to pass through them as a symbolic act of passage into a renewed relationship with God.

• Spiritual Renewal: The Jubilee is a profound time for spiritual renewal, mercy, and forgiveness of sins, with a focus on reconciliation.

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Observing Jubilee Year 2025

Jubilee Year 2025 began when Pope Francis opened the Holy Doors at St. Peter’s Basilica on Dec. 24, 2024. Doors will remain open until the end of Jubilee Year, on Jan 6, 2026. They will not reopen until 2050. Those unable to travel to Rome can participate by visiting a designated Pilgrimage site in WA state:​

 

• Proto-Cathedral of St. James (Vancouver) (Right here in our parish family!)

• Church of Vietnamese Martyrs (Tukwila)

• St. Peter (Suquamish)

• St. Joachim (Lummi)

• St. James Cathedral (Seattle)

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Requirements to earn a Plenary Indulgence

"The faithful can obtain the Jubilee indulgence if, having celebrated the sacraments of Reconciliation and Eucharist, they devoutly visit any Jubilee site (in Rome or in your local diocese) and there, for a suitable period of time, engage in Eucharistic adoration and meditation, concluding with the Our Father, the Profession of Faith in any legitimate form, and invocations to Mary, the Mother of God."

(From the Vatican Decree on the Granting of Indulgence during the Ordinary Jubilee Year 2025 called by His Holiness Pope Francis, 13.05.2024)