To: The Faithful of the Diocese of London
In January, Pope Francis invited all the world to join in prayer in preparation for the coming Holy Year, Jubilee 2025. It has been the tradition since 1300 for popes to proclaim specific years as a “Jubilee Year”. Wishing that the faithful could experience the graces of a Holy Year more frequently, later popes have proclaimed a Jubilee every 25 years as well as extraordinary Holy Years with particular themes. Many will remember St. John Paul’s Year of Mary, Pope Benedict’s Year of Faith and Pope Francis’ Year of Mercy.
The theme for Jubilee 2025 is “Pilgrims of Hope”. Having reached the conclusion of our own diocesan Year of Prayer for Vocations to the Priesthood, it is time now to turn our minds and hearts to the coming Jubilee in union with Catholics worldwide. We will launch our time of prayer beginning this week on the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, celebrated Friday, 7 June.
In preparation, a committee, including a woman Religious, a lay ecclesial minister, a pastor, an associate pastor, a member of our Pastoral Services team and our Director of Communications, was set up to propose ways we could prepare for the Holy Year itself. Several ideas have been proposed and will be rolled out over the coming months. Prayer cards will be distributed to all Families of Parishes before the end of June in English, French and Spanish, bearing the official prayer released by the Holy See.
In keeping with the Jubilee theme, “Pilgrims of Hope”, other suggestions for Families of Parishes include promotion of the official Jubilee hymn, focusing on how we as priests and people pray together throughout the Mass, ideas for homilies about living as people of hope, and ways that we can share stories of hope from across the Diocese. All details will be released in upcoming Parish Briefings. For further information, see the Jubilee 2025 page on our website at https://dol.ca/jubilee-2025.
On 9 May, the Solemnity of the Ascension, Pope Francis issued the Bull of Indiction, a formal papal document that officially announced the coming Jubilee. In it, he calls on all the members of the Church to renew their hope in God’s promises of new life, even now:
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! (n. 25)
Joining with the Holy Father, I call on all the faithful to enter into this time of prayer, asking for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on our Diocese so that we ourselves may receive new life in Christ and be beacons of hope to all we meet on this earthly pilgrimage. May our heavenly patrons, our Blessed Mother the Immaculate Conception and St. Patrick accompany us as spiritual guides during this pilgrimage of faith and hope!
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Most Rev. Ronald P. Fabbro, CSB
Bishop of London