FAQs about the Jubilee Year 2025
Since the year 1300, the Church’s Jubilee Years have served as holy seasons to reflect, pray, learn, forgive others and seek the Lord’s pardon and liberating power. One of the most important observances of a Jubilee Year is the pilgrimage. With its Jewish origin in the people of God making a pilgrim journey to the Temple for various high feasts, Pilgrimage allows us to journey to various sacred sites, appreciating the beauty of creation along the way, being open to silence and recollection, forming friendships with fellow pilgrims, and seeking Christ, the way (John 14:6), who desires to walk with us (Luke 24:15) in every encounter and situation.
Cardinal Gregory has designated several pilgrimage sites throughout the Archdiocese, where you can make a pilgrimage, participate in the Holy Mass or other Jubilee activities, pray the official prayer for Jubilee Year 2025 and gain plenary indulgence.
Jubilee 2025: Pilgrims of Hope
St. Paul writes that “hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us (Rom. 5:5). Those who have hope—a desire for God’s promise of resurrection and eternal life—are pilgrims journeying in confidence toward their true home in Heaven. Amid all the joys and sorrows of life, the Christian hope does not disappoint because God’s promise is true.
Announcing the Jubilee Year, Pope Francis tells us that our witness as a pilgrim Church is like “leaven of authentic hope” in the world:
“The coming Jubilee will thus be a Holy Year marked by the hope that does not fade, our hope in God … May the witness of believers be for our world a leaven of authentic hope, a harbinger of new heavens and a new earth (cf. 2 Pet 3:13), where men and women will dwell in justice and harmony, in joyful expectation of the fulfilment of the Lord’s promises.”
FAQs about The Jubilee
When does the Jubilee Year begin and end?
The Jubilee Year officially begins on December 24, 2024, when Pope Francis opens the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. It will conclude on January 6, 2026.
Are there Holy Doors in the Archdiocese of Washington?
No. The only Holy Doors for this Jubilee are in Rome.
How can I participate in the Jubilee Year?
All the faithful are encouraged to embrace the invitation to become a true pilgrim of hope, both spiritually and physically. First, you can go to (or return to) the sacrament of reconciliation. In addition, you can visit any of the official archdiocesan pilgrimage
sites, where you will be able to pray the official prayer for Jubilee Year 2025, unite yourself spiritually with all who will journey as pilgrims to Rome, and obtain an indulgence freeing you from the temporal punishment caused by sin. Also, you can strive to forgive others who have wronged you.
What is an Indulgence?
An indulgence is the remission of the temporal punishment (the effects of sin that linger in us) caused by sin. Because sin is a preference for self-love, it leaves behind an unhealthy attachment to (or a disordered love for) earthly things, even after it is forgiven. The
Church teaches that these earthly attachments can be purified either here on earth (through an indulgence) or after death in Purgatory. God’s abundant mercy is such that he offers to free us from earthly attachments by means of heavenly remedies, such as prayers, pilgrimages, devotions, and works of mercy.
How can I obtain an indulgence during the Jubilee Year 2025?
During the Jubilee Year 2025, the faithful can obtain a plenary indulgence—that is, complete remission of the temporal punishment due to sin—by making SPACE for God in your day: Avoid SIN (have complete detachment from all sin, even venial ones) Offer PRAYERS for the Pope (Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory be to the Father) Perform the ACTION (see activities on next page) Go to CONFESSION (within about 20 days of performing the action) Receive the Eucharist (within about 20 days of performing the action)
Jubilee activities include the following:
PILGRIMAGES
+ Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle, Washington DC
+ Holy Comforter/St. Cyprian Catholic Church, Washington DC
+ St. John Neumann Catholic Church, Gaithersburg, MD
+ Shrine of St. Jude Catholic Church, Rockville, MD
+ Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Bowie, MD
+ St. Bernard of Clairvaux Catholic Church, Riverdale, MD
+ Sacred Heart Catholic Church, La Plata, MD
+ University of Maryland, Catholic Student Center, College Park, MD
+ St. Aloysius Catholic Church, Leonardtown, MD
+ St. Anthony Catholic Church, North Beach, MD
+ Basilica of the National Shrine of Immaculate Conception, Washington DC
+ St. John Paul II National Shrine, Washington DC
WORKS OF DEVOTION
+ Participating in a parish mission
+ Studying the documents of Vatican II
or Catechism of the Catholic Church
WORKS OF MERCY
+ Visiting those in need or in difficulty, as if visiting Christ present in them e.g.:
◦ the sick or prisoners or the refugees
◦ those who are lonely, elderly, or disabled
WORKS OF PENANCE
+ Abstaining from distractions (e.g., the use of
smartphone apps or social media) at least one day a week
+ Abstaining from certain food and drink (fasting) at least
one day a week
+ Abstaining from meat (abstinence) at least one day a week
+ Donating money to the poor
+ Supporting the work of those who defend and protect life in
all its phases.
+ Supporting the ministry of those who work with abandoned
children, young people in difficulty, the needy or lonely elderly
people, or migrants
+ Dedicating one’s free time to community service
or parish ministry
I am homebound, or sick or imprisoned or work with the sick and the elderly and cannot participate in person. How can I obtain an indulgence?
+ Detach from sin
+ Unite in spirit with those who participate in person and recite the Our Father, the Profession of Faith (I believe in God) and the Jubilee prayer
+Offer up your sufferings and hardship in union with Jesus.
When is the Archdiocesan Jubilee Celebration and Mass?
Saturday, May 31, 2025 @ Saint John Paul II National Shrine and The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.
Where can I get more information about the Jubilee Year, including pilgrimage locations and hours of operation?
Please visit www.adw.org/living-the-faith/evangelization to learn more.

The Jubilee Prayer
Father in heaven, may the faith you have given us in your son, Jesus Christ, our brother, and the flame of charity enkindled in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, reawaken in us the blessed hope for the coming of your Kingdom.
May your grace transform us into tireless cultivators of the seeds of the Gospel. May those seeds transform from within both humanity and the whole cosmos in the sure expectation of a new heaven and a new earth, when, with the powers of Evil vanquished, your glory will shine eternally. May the grace of the Jubilee reawaken in us, Pilgrims of Hope, a yearning for the treasures of heaven.
May that same grace spread the joy and peace of our Redeemer throughout the earth. To you our God, eternally blessed, be glory and praise for ever.
Amen
Contact the Office of Evangelization – Archdiocese of Washington for more information.