Apostolic Protonotary Mons. Leonardo Sapienza, with the delivery of the Bull of Indiction of the Jubilee Year of 2025, expressed, “My thoughts turn to all those pilgrims of hope who will travel to Rome in order to experience the Holy Year and to all those others who, though unable to visit the City of the Apostles Peter and Paul, will celebrate it in their local Churches. For everyone, may the Jubilee be a moment of genuine, personal encounter with the Lord Jesus, the door.” 

Builders of hope – this is what Pope Francis encouraged the faithful to be during the official proclamation of the Jubilee 2025, in order to help bring more hope into this world “marked by too much despair.” 

The papal bull, titled “Spes Non Confudit,” meaning “Hope Does Not Disappoint,” declares that the Jubilee Year will officially begin with the opening of the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica on Christmas Eve 2024. 

This is an ancient tradition which dates back to the year 1300. A jubilee is a special holy year of grace and pilgrimage in the Catholic Church. Pilgrims who walk through the Holy Door of one of the four Papal Basilicas in Rome can, in combination with going to confession, receiving communion, and praying for the pope's intentions, receive a plenary indulgence. 

In the papal bull, Pope Francis describes this indulgence as “a way to discover the unlimited nature of God’s mercy which knows no bounds.” 

In the document, Pope Francis also reminds the Church that all hope as Christians is "grounded in the certainty that nothing and no one may ever separate us from God’s love.” 

In his document the Holy Father shared three signs of hope: the desire for peace in a war-torn world, the tragic loss of a desire to have children as can be seen in the many countries experiencing an alarming decline in the birthrate, as well as the appeal for prisoners to be treated with dignity. 

Francis revealed that he would like to personally open a Holy Door within a prison "as a sign inviting prisoners to look into the future" with hope and confidence. Pope Francis also reiterated his firm opposition to the death penalty and recalled the tradition of pardoning prisoners during Jubilee years. 

Finally, Pope Francis voiced his hope for more unity amongst Christian Churches, not least because next year will also mark the 1700th anniversary of the Ecumenical Council of Nicea. “Providentially,” as the Holy Father put it, “Catholics will celebrate Easter at the same time as the Orthodox Churches.” 
 
The full text of the Bull of Indiction can be found on the Vatican’s website.  

Adapted by Jacob Stein 

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