Jubilee 2025
Year of Jubilee – Pilgrims of Hope
Pope Francis has announced that 2025 will be a year of Jubilee – an event that happens every 25 years. The theme for the upcoming Jubilee is ‘Pilgrims of Hope’.
The 2025 Jubilee began in Advent 2024 and will run until the Feast of the Epiphany in 2026.
More information is available on the official Jubilee 2025 website

What is a Jubilee?
Taking place every 25 years, a Jubilee year is a tradition that is recognised and respected throughout the world as being a significant part of the history of our faith.
Excluding the Extraordinary Year of Mercy in 2016, the last Jubilee year took place in 2000, marking an historic moment as the Church entered into her third millennium.
A Jubilee is a special year of grace, in which the Catholic Church offers the faithful the possibility of asking for a plenary indulgence – a remission of sins for themselves or deceased loved ones. The year begins with the well-known custom of the opening of the Holy Door at St Peter’s Basilica, following the other three papal basilicas in Rome. The Pope grants permission for Holy Doors to be situated throughout the world for Catholics everywhere to take part in this most special rite.
A video about the Jubliee
Whole School Jubilee Prayer and Hymn
There is a special prayer for the Jubilee which we are sharing together in school:
God, our loving Father,
In this Jubilee year,
you remind us of our call to love creation.
Help us to work together
to replant, repair, and renew.
R# Guide us on our journey as pilgrims of hope.
Jesus, our light,
In this Jubilee year, you remind us of our call to love our neighbours and to set free those who suffer.
Help us to treat everyone with dignity; to be fair; forgiving; and kind.
R# Guide us on our journey as pilgrims of hope.
Holy Spirit, our inspiration,
In this Jubilee year, you remind us of our call to grow in faith and love.
Help us to hear you in scripture, to see Jesus in others,
and to be united as God’s global family.
R# Guide us on our journey as pilgrims of hope.
We are also singing a beautiful hymn written especially for Jubilee year
The Jubilee Icon
There is also a special icon for the Jubilee, which you can see at the top of the page.
The four figures represent ‘all of humanity’, coming from the four corners of the earth. They embrace each other to indicate the solidarity and fraternity which should unite all peoples. The figures also remind us that we do not journey through life alone and that we are united with our brothers and sisters in Christ.
The figure at the front is embracing the cross. The symbolism of this is twofold. The cross is a well-known sign of faith and it is also a sign of hope: we need to hold onto our faith ‘especially in our moments of greatest need.’
There are waves beneath the figures. This reminds us that our pilgrim’s journey through life is not always calm and smooth: throughout our lives we will have to face all kinds of different challenges.
The symbol of hope is further enhanced by the lower part of the cross which is in the shape of an anchor. It is submerged deep into the waters and signifies how, like an anchor, our faith gives us stability and security.
In this logo the cross is also bending ‘down towards humanity, not leaving human beings alone, but stretching out to them to offer the certainty of its presence and the security of hope.’