Jubilee of the Year 2025: Pilgrims of Hope

"May the Jubilee be a moment of genuine, personal encounter with the Lord Jesus, the 'door' (cf. Jn 10:7.9) of our salvation." - Pope Francis

Pope Francis has announced that 2025 will be a Jubilee Year, with the theme “Pilgrims of Hope." The Holy Father wishes the jubilee to be a year of hope for a world suffering the impacts of war, the ongoing effects of COVID-19 pandemic, and the climate crisis.

The pope proclaimed the jubilee year through the publication of the papal bull, Spes Non Confundit, which is translated as "Hope does not disappoint."

"For all of us, may the Jubilee be an opportunity to be renewed in hope," Pope Francis said in the papal bull. "Everyone knows what it is to hope. In the heart of each person, hope dwells as the desire and expectation of good things to come, despite our not knowing what the future may bring."

The jubilee year was inaugurated on December 24, 2024, with the opening of the Holy Door of the Basilica of St. Peter at the Vatican. Pope Francis decreed that diocesan bishops celebrate a Mass in every cathedral and co-cathedral on December 29, 2024, to celebrate the solemn opening of the Holy Year. The jubilee will conclude on January 6, 2026, the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord, with the closing of the basilica's holy door.

During the course of the jubilee year, Pope Francis expressed his desire that every effort be made to enable the people of God to participate fully in its proclamation of hope in God’s grace and in the signs that attest to its efficacy.

"Through our witness, may hope spread to all those who anxiously seek it," the pope said. "May the way we live our lives say to them in so many words: 'Hope in the Lord! Hold firm, take heart and hope in the Lord!' (Ps 27:14).

Events in Our Diocese

Opening of Jubilee Year - Portland

Bishop James Ruggieri celebrated the beginning of the Jubilee Year with a Mass on Sunday, December 29 at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Portland.

Day of Reflection on the Jubilee Year - Frenchville

Bishop James Ruggieri will present a Day of Reflection on the Jubilee Year on Monday, January 13, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the Christian Life Center. 444 U.S. Route One in Frenchville. The cost is $15, which includes lunch. To register, call St. John Vianney Parish at 207-834-5656 or 207-543-6193,

The Jubilee Year and How to Celebrate It - Scarborough

Join Father Jack Dickinson and Michelle Valcourt, faith formation director of St. John Paul II Parish, on Monday, January 13, as they explore the meaning of the Jubilee Year "Pilgrims of Hope" and how to celebrate it. Discover the rich tradition behind this sacred time and learn practical ways to engage in this special year of renewal, grace, and mercy. The session will be held at 7 p.m. at St. Maximilian Kolbe Church, 150 Black Point Road in Scarborough.

Bishop Ruggieri Reflection on the Jubilee Year

By inaugurating this Ordinary Jubilee of 2025, Pope Francis is asking us to be “pilgrims of hope.” He recognizes in Spes non confundit that the cares and anxieties of the present moment, such as problems that we may have in our relationships, economic difficulties, health issues, a listless spirit due to the lack of love we experience in our world so broken by war, may tempt us to embrace a survivalist’s individualism. We may grow to feel that we have to survive this life alone because we feel no one cares, we can’t trust anyone else, or we need to take care of ourselves first. Pope Francis proposes that this jubilee offers us an opportunity to recover the joy of living (Spes non confundit #9). Hope allows us to overcome the individualistic mode of existence that can overtake us when life becomes overwhelming. Hope can restore or give us, for the first time, a real belief that we are not alone in our struggles.

[Read the complete reflection]

Plenary Indulgence

In his proclamation of the Jubilee of 2025, Pope Francis announced an indulgence would be available to the faithful during the jubilee year. The indulgence, he explained, would be “a way of discovering the unlimited nature of God’s mercy.”

A plenary indulgence is a grace granted by the Catholic Church through the merits of Jesus Christ to remove the temporal punishment due to sin.