In each diocese around the world, a bishop will celebrate a Jubilee Mass to announce the opening of the Year.

 We are very honored that Archbishop Shelton has chosen to open the Year of Hope in our archdiocese at St. James on Monday, January 13 at an 8:30 am Mass, which will be attended — at the archbishop’s request — by the children of St. James School. Everyone is invited to attend, in fact we would welcome a full church!  Throughout the year, the theme will be “Pilgrims of Hope.”

What is a Jubilee Year?

 This year on Christmas Eve, 2024, Pope Francis, like Pope John Paul II in 1999, opened the Holy Door to begin a Jubilee Year in 2025. It will be an ordinary holy year, part of the tradition of the Church to celebrate such a year every 25 years, to give every generation a chance to experience that special time of grace and mercy in their life. Those who participate in a Holy Year pilgrimage are granted a plenary indulgence; those who are unable to attend in person for concrete reasons are invited to participate spiritually, “offering up the sufferings of their daily lives, and participating in the Eucharistic celebration.”

Hope is the central message of this 8,400 words decree, known by its Latin title “Spes non Confundit” (“Hope does not disappoint”).  In the bull, which in some parts reads like a social encyclical, Pope Francis told believers that in this Jubilee Year “we are called to be tangible signs of hope for those of our brothers and sisters who experience hardship of any kind.” He emphasized the need for diplomacy to resolve the wars and armed conflicts around the world, called on leaders to address the needs of “the billions” of poor people in the world who lack food and water, and appealed—as Pope John Paul II did in Jubilee Year 2000—for the cancellation of the debts of poor countries and amnesty or pardon for prisoners.