Edmonton Catholic Schools Welcomes the Jubilee Year!
We invite our families, students, staff, and community to join Catholics around the world as we celebrate this special year. As Pope Francis says, “May the Jubilee be an opportunity to be renewed in hope!”
What is Jubilee 2025?
Every 25 years since 1300, the Catholic Church holds a special celebration called the Jubilee Year. This is a time of reset, a time to focus on our relationship with God and with others. The 2025 Jubilee will officially open on December 24, 2024, at 7:00 PM, with the rite of Opening of the Holy Door of the Papal Basilica of St. Peter by the Holy Father, who will then preside over the celebration of the Night Mass of the Lord's Birth inside the Basilica.
There are several key dates during Jubilee 2025, these can be found in the Jubilee 2025 Calendar.
2025 Theme: Pilgrims of Hope
“Hope does not disappoint” (Rom 5:5). Pope Francis has chosen Pilgrims of Hope as this year's theme.
The coming Jubilee will thus be a Holy Year marked by the hope that does not fade, our hope in God. May it help us to recover the confident trust that we require, in the Church and in society, in our interpersonal relationships, in international relations, and in our task of promoting the dignity of all persons and respect for God’s gift of creation. 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.
Let us even now be drawn to this hope! Through our witness, may hope spread to all those who anxiously seek it. May the way we live our lives say to them in so many words: “Hope in the Lord! Hold firm, take heart and hope in the Lord!” (Ps 27:14). May the power of hope fill our days, as we await with confidence the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and glory, now and forever.
Read the full text of Pope Francis' message here.
How We Are Celebrating the Jubilee Year
Edmonton Catholic Schools is embracing Jubilee 2025 with opportunities for students, staff, and families to take part in this global celebration of faith and renewal.
Throughout the year, our schools will engage in Jubilee-themed activities, including:
- Weekly Jubilee Prayer during morning announcements
- A special school-wide liturgy on May 26, 2025
- Pilgrimage opportunities and acts of service within our communities
- Resources and events in collaboration with the Catholic Archdiocese of Edmonton and the Alberta Catholic School Trustees Association
This year is an invitation to reflect, renew, and walk together in hope. More details, including activity guides and resources, will be available soon.
Learn more about Jubilee 2025 in Edmonton Catholic Schools.
How You Can Participate
There are many ways to take part in the Jubilee 2025. These include:
- Pilgrimage
- Digital Pilgrimage
- Holy Door (in Rome)
- Reconciliation
- Prayer
- Liturgy
- Profession of Faith
- Indulgences
Jubilee Prayer
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 forever.
AmenPope Francis
The Jubilee prayer can also be found in other languages here.