First Sunday of Advent, November 30, 2025
Pope Francis announced that 2024-25 is a Catholic Jubilee Year which began on December 24, 2025 in Rome and which will end in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia on the Feast of the Holy Family, December 28, 2025.
Let me make an Advent suggestion: Make a jubilee pilgrimage within the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.
What is a jubilee year? Originally the church celebrated jubilee years every 100 years, which was later shortened to every 25 years. A jubilee is a time for renewal of faith and for reconciliation. The mercy of God is always available, but a jubilee is a particular time to seek and receive mercy from God. Indulgences and pilgrimages are particularly notable devotions for jubilee years.
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. The indulgence applies to sins already forgiven. A plenary indulgence cleanses the soul as if the person had just been baptized. Plenary indulgences obtained during the Jubilee Year can also be applied to souls in purgatory.
Indulgences are granted in jubilee years when a person makes a pilgrimage to a special shrine and performs the "usual" conditions of detachment from all sin, sacramental confession, holy Communion, and prayer for the intentions of the pope.
The most popular jubilee pilgrimage destination is Rome, particularly the Basilica of Saint Peter, the Vatican. Tens of millions of pilgrims have gone to Rome for the jubilee. But one can obtain the indulgence and participate in the jubilee by making a local pilgrimage, particularly to the cathedral of the local diocese. In our case, it is the Basilica Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul, which also houses the Shrine of Saint Katherine Drexel.
