Jubilee 2025

Papal Bull

Tradition dictates that each Jubilee is proclaimed through the publication of a Papal ‘Bull of Indiction’, an official document, explaining key aspects of the year, including the theme chosen for the year.
This year Pope Francis chose as the theme, 'Pilgrims of Hope.'

Click here to read the ‘Bull of Indiction’ for this Jubilee Year:
SPES NON CONFUNDIT (Hope does not disappoint (Romans 5:5))

TOOLS FOR THE JOURNEY

As we each strive to be Pilgrims of Hope, let us rely on the many tools that our Church offers - the Mass, the Sacraments, our church community. As we grow closer to God, we are strengthened by His love, and are better able to share that love with those around us.

1 John 3:18
"Let us love, not in word or in speech but in deed and in truth."

RECONCILIATION

The Lord Jesus Christ, physician of our souls and bodies ... has willed that his Church continue, in the power of the Holy Spirit, his work of healing and salvation. CCC, no. 1421

CLICK HERE to learn more about the beautiful gift of Reconciliation, to access a step-by-step guide, and to hear Fr. Matt Duclos's simple answers to questions that many have if they haven't gone to Confession in some time.

ADORATION

This presence is called "real" - by which is not intended to exclude the other types of presence as if they could not be 'real' too, but because it is presence in the fullest sense: that is to say, it is a substantial presence by which Christ, God and man, makes himself wholly and entirely present.
CCC, no. 1374

CLICK HERE to find Adoration sites throughout the Diocese

CLICK HERE to learn how Eucharistic Adoration can help to deepen your faith.

THE MASS

The command of Jesus to repeat his actions and words "until he comes" does not only ask us to remember Jesus and what he did. It is directed at the liturgical celebration, by the apostles and their successors, of the memorial of Christ, of his life, of his death, of his Resurrection, and of his intercession in the presence of the Father. CCC, no. 1341

CLICK HERE for "The Power of One Hour", a five-part video series, produced by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany, teaching about the Mass.

PRAYER

Prayer is the life of the new heart. It ought to animate us at every moment. But we tend to forget him who is our life and our all... "We must remember God more often than we draw breath.
CCC, no. 2697

CLICK HERE for tools to help you Build Your Prayer Life

FURTHERING YOUR FAITH SERIES

"Faith seeks understanding": it is intrinsic to faith that a believer desires to know better the One in whom he has put his faith and to understand better what He has revealed; a more penetrating knowledge will in turn call forth a greater faith, increasingly set afire by love. CCC, no. 158

CLICK HERE for the Furthering Your Faith YouTube page - Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany

Frequently Asked Questions

WHAT IS A JUBILEE YEAR?

It is also known as a Holy Year. It’s a year focused on renewing our call to holiness, strengthening our connection with God, focusing on forgiveness of sins, reconciliation, solidarity, hope, and service to others. Currently, they occur in the Catholic Church every 25 years. You can learn more about the meaning and history of Holy Years here.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A PILGRIM OF HOPE?

In his Bull of Indiction, the official document from Pope Francis regarding this Jubilee Year (SPES NON CONFUNDIT) the Pope says: 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. Even so, uncertainty about the future may at times give rise to conflicting feelings, ranging from confident trust to apprehensiveness, from serenity to anxiety, from firm conviction to hesitation and doubt. Often we come across people who are discouraged, pessimistic and cynical about the future, as if nothing could possibly bring them happiness. For all of us, may the Jubilee be an opportunity to be renewed in hope. God’s word helps us find reasons for that hope.
The more we have hope, the better able we are to share hope. On our diocesan website https://www.rcda.org/jubilee2025 we share tools, available right now in our faith, to help you become a pilgrim of hope.

WHEN DOES THE JUBILEE BEGIN AND END?

The Jubilee began on December 24, 2024, when Pope Francis opened the Holy Door of the Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican. The Ordinary Jubilee will conclude with the closing of the Holy Door in the Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican on January 6, 2026, the Solemnity of the Feast of the Epiphany.

WHAT IS A PILGRIMAGE?

A pilgrimage is a fundamental element of every Jubilee event. In his Bull of Indiction SPES NON CONFUNDIT, the Pope’s official document regarding this Jubilee Year, Pope Francis says, “Setting out on a journey is traditionally associated with our human quest for meaning in life.” Some may journey to Rome to see the Holy Sites there. If you cannot make that trip, there are Holy sites that can be pilgrimage destinations for you here in our diocese. The Pope says these Holy sites can serve as an oasis of spirituality, places of rest on the pilgrimage of faith, where we can drink from the wellspring of hope.”

WHAT IS AN INDULGENCE AND HOW DO I OBTAIN ONE?

Click here for The Nature of Indulgences Explained
Very Rev. Anthony M. Barratt, STL, PhD, EV
Director of Prayer and Worship for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany

Click here for Vatican guidelines on how to receive an Indulgence this Jubilee Year

WHERE CAN I LEARN MORE ABOUT THE JUBILEE YEAR?

In addition to watching for updates on this webpage, you can also visit the official Jubilee pages of the Vatican (click here) and United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (click here).