What is a Jubilee Year?
The Jubilee Year began with the opening of the Holy Door in St Peter’s Basilica in Rome, on Tuesday, December 24, 2024 and it ends on the Feast of Epiphany, Tuesday, January 6, 2026.

A Jubilee Year, also known as a Holy Year, is considered a great religious event in the Roman Catholic tradition. It is a year for forgiveness, reconciliation, and conversion. Pope Francis notes it is a “…year of Christ, who brings life and grace to humanity.” It is a time dedicated in a special way to God, as noted by St. Pope John Paul II in Tertio Millennio Adveniente.

The Archdiocese of Mobile points out, the idea is “rooted in the Jubilees marked by the Israelites, who saw every 50th year as a special time for forgiveness and reconciliation with God and others. They would leave their fields fallow, replenishing the soil, allow those under slavery to regain their freedom, return land to its former owners, and forgive debts that could not be repaid.”

The heart of the Jubilee Year is a mission of restoration and renewal!
 
How will you celebrate this Jubilee Year?
There are many ways in which you, your family, and your friends can celebrate, and be a part of, the 2025 Jubilee Year – Pilgrims of Hope.

You may choose to go on a Pilgrimage right here in the Archdiocese of Mobile to one of the nine designated sites!

There are also great resources available online. We encourage you to seek out the opportunities that speak to your heart! Below are just a few to get you started.

• EWTN Jubilee videos on YouTube
• USCCB resources for all ages (families, children, teenagers, young people, grandparents, elderly).
• A parent’s guide from Aleteia
• Ways to strengthen your faith and family life through the Catholic Grandparents Association.
• Prayers, hymns, historical information and much more from the Vatican.

Nine designated pilgrimage sites in the Archdiocese of Mobile
Archbishop Thomas J. Rodi has designated nine pilgrimage sites, also known as Jubilee sites, within the archdiocese at which visitors may receive a plenary indulgence…and one is right down the road in Montgomery – St. Bede the Venerable!

• Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception - Mobile
• Carmelite Monastery - Mobile
• Visitation Monastery - Mobile
• Holy Redeemer Parish - Eufaula
• St. Jude Monastery - Marbury
• St. Martin of Tours - Troy
• Our Lady Queen of Peace - Selma
• St. Bede the Venerable - Montgomery
• St. Margaret of Scotland - Foley

We encourage you to visit the Archdiocese of Mobile webpage for more detailed information on each Jubilee site.

Looking further afield in Alabama for a pilgrimage to a Jubilee church? The Archdiocese of Birmingham also has designated Jubilee churches.
 
What is a plenary indulgence?
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.

If you make a pilgrimage to one of the designated pilgrimage sites, anywhere in the world, you may obtain the Jubilee plenary indulgence if you “devoutly visit any Jubilee site and there, for a suitable period of time, engage in Eucharistic adoration and meditation, concluding with the Our Father, the Profession of Faith in any legitimate form, and invocations to Mary, the Mother of God.” Read more on the Archdiocese of Mobile website.

Here are some helpful guidelines to consider for obtaining a plenary indulgence.

• Attend Mass at a designated pilgrimage site.
• Receive Holy Communion during Mass.
• Go to confession within 14 days of attending Mass at the pilgrimage site.
• Pray for the Holy Father (the Creed, Our Father, and Hail Mary).
• Be free from any affection for sin or attachment to sin. Traditional Catholicism refers to this as being in the state of grace.

Can’t make it to a pilgrimage site? There are other ways to celebrate the Jubilee Year! 
Consider ways in which you can make your home a space for celebration, prayer, and catechesis. How can you and your family share the joy of the Jubilee?

• Pray the Jubilee Prayer.
• Read the Jubilee Document that has a scriptural reflection on hope.
• Get the free EWTN Travel Jubilee App.
• Host a Jubilee party.
• Study topics on Jubilee themes in small groups.
• Schedule time for Adoration and Reconciliation.
• Volunteer for service projects and perform works of mercy for those who are experiencing hardships.
• Abstain from futile distractions, especially on Fridays, in a spirit of penance.
• Consider offering a “stretch” donation to an organization that supports the poor and marginalized.
• Pray the Liturgy of the Hours. To learn more click here and to listen click here.
• Pray the Via Crucis – the Way of the Cross.
• Pray the rosary.

Our Father
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

Hail Mary
Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Apostles’ Creed
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried; he descended into hell; on the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from there he will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen.