Learn about the Jubilee Year—an ancient tradition of forgiveness and renewal, now celebrated in the Catholic Church with prayer, pilgrimage, and grace-filled opportunities.
“Jubilee” is the name given to a particular year set aside to re-establish a proper relationship with God, one another, and all of creation.
The Jubilee year is an ancient Jewish tradition of pardon and reconciliation. It was celebrated every fifty years after a “sabbath of sabbaths,” 7 x 7 years.
During the Year of Jubilee, the community imitated God’s mercy and forgiveness by forgiving debts. Each family returned to their land and agreed not to cultivate it for a year, giving it much-needed rest.
This jubilee tradition was first adapted for Catholics in 1300 by Pope Boniface VIII as a universal “year of forgiveness of all sins.” Since that time, the “ordinary” jubilee years have usually been at 50 or now 25-year intervals (the last was in 2000), with other “extraordinary” jubilee years declared for special reasons like that of Mercy in 2015.
Jubilee years are characterized primarily by prayer, good works, pilgrimages to sacred sites (especially Rome), cultural events, and special indulgences for those who participate.
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