The Jubilee
​(Holy Year)

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Holy Door, St Peter's Basilica

The 2025 Jubilee will officially begin at 19.00 on December 24th, when Pope Francis opens the Porta Santa (Holy Door) of St Peter's Basilica.

In the Roman Catholic Church a Jubilee, also known as a Holy Year, is held once every twenty-five years. In brief, it is a year when a plenary indulgence is granted to pilgrims who visit, in a spirit of penitence, at least one of the four Major Papal Basilicas of Rome. 

The first Jubilee was proclaimed by Pope Boniface VIII (r. 1294-1303) on February 22nd 1300 with the Bull Antiquorum Habet Fida Relatio. The Pope granted plenary indulgences for people who visited the churches of San Pietro in Vaticano (St Peter's Basilica) and San Paolo fuori le Mura (St Paul Outside the Walls). A Roman had to visit the two churches 30 times, while a pilgrim (known as a Romeo) only had to visit them 15 times.  

Pope Boniface VIII Proclaims the Jubilee of 1300 (Att. to Giotto), St John Lateran

The Jubilee has its origins in the Old Testament. The Law of Moses prescribed a special year for the Jewish people: 'You shall hallow the fiftieth year and proclaim the liberty throughout the land, to all its inhabitants; it shall be a jubilee for you when each of you shall return to his property and each of you shall return to his family. This fiftieth year is to be a jubilee year for you: you will not sow, you will not harvest the un-gathered corn, you will not gather the untrimmed vine. The jubilee is to be a holy thing to you, you will eat what comes from the fields', (Book of Leviticus 25: 10-14). A Jubilee was announced with a ram's horn, known as a yobel in Hebrew, hence the origin of the word.

​Pope Boniface VIII declared that there should be a Jubilee every 100 years. Pope Clement VI (r. 1342-52) declared that there should be a Jubilee every 50 years, in accordance with Old Testament tradition. Pope Urban VI (r. 1378-89) set the Jubilee cycle to every 33 years, in memory of the length of Christ’s life, thus bringing forward the celebrations to 1390. Pope Nicholas V (r. 1447-55) reestablished the practise of holding a Jubilee every 50 years. 

Holy Door, St Peter's Basilica

Pope Paul II (r. 1464-71) declared there should be a Jubilee once every 25 years, so that every generation could benefit from the grace of the celebrations and associated indulgences. Apart from the odd exception, this time-frame has remained the custom ever since. Paul II also stated the Jubilee pilgrimage should include visits to the churches of San Giovanni in Laterano (St John Lateran) and Santa Maria Maggiore (St Mary Major), in addition to San Pietro in Vaticano (St Peter's Basilica) and San Paolo fuori le Mura (St Paul Outside the Walls).   ​

Holy Door, San Giovanni in Laterano

Pope Alexander VI (r. 1492-1503) definitively established the official ceremony of the opening and closing of the Jubilee. He also stated that the custom of setting aside a special door for the Jubilee should be extended to the other three Patriarchal Basilicas, with the understanding that the doors should be kept closed at all other times. The opening of the Porta Santa (Holy Door) of St Peter's Basilica, which marks the official start of the Jubilee, was only to be carried out by the reigning pontiff. ​

Holy Door, Santa Maria Maggiore

The opening of the Holy Door at St Peter's Basilica takes place on Christmas Eve in the preceding year; it is closed on the Feast of the Epiphany (January 6th) in the following year. 

Holy Door, St Paul Outside the Walls

This practise is followed at the three other papal basilicas of San Giovanni in Laterano, San Paolo fuori le Mura and Santa Maria Maggiore, all of which have a Holy Door. 

Walled up Holy Door, St Peter's Basilica

All four Holy Doors are only open during a Jubilee; otherwise they are walled up on the inside. ​

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A List of Official Jubilee Years

1. 1300: Pope Boniface VIII (r. 1294-1303).
2. 1350: Pope Clement VI (r. 1342-52).
3. 1390: Decreed by Pope Urban VI (r. 1378-89). Held by Pope Boniface IX (r. 1389-1404). 
4. 1450: Pope Nicholas V (r. 1447-55). 
5. 1475: Decreed by Pope Paul II (r. 1464-71). Held by Pope Sixtus IV (r. 1471-84).  
6. 1500: Pope Alexander VI (r. 1492-1503).  
7. 1525: Pope Clement VII (r. 1523-34).  
8. 1550: Julius III (r. 1550-55).  
9. 1575: Pope Gregory XIII (r. 1572-85).  
10. 1600: Pope Clement VIII (r. 1592-1605).  
11. 1625: Pope Urban VIII (r. 1623-44). San Paolo fuori le Mura was replaced by the more centrally located church of Santa Maria in Trastevere, on account of fears of a threat of the plague.  
12. 1650: Pope Innocent X (r. 1644-55).  
13. 1675: Pope Clement X (r. 1670-76).  
14. 1700: Opened by Pope Innocent XII (r. 1691-1700) & closed by Pope Clement XI (r. 1700-21). This was the first time that the Jubilee was opened by one pope and closed by another. 
15. 1725: Pope Benedict XIII  (r. 1724-30).
16. 1750: Pope Benedict XIV (r. 1740-58).  
17. 1775: Pope Pius VI (r. 1775-99).  Pius VI was elected pope on February 15th 1775. On February 26th he inaugurated the Holy Year, which couldn't be opened on Christmas Eve, as the Papal See was vacant. 
18. 1825: Pope Leo XII (r. 1823-28). As San Paolo fuori le Mura had been largely destroyed by fire, it was replaced by Santa Maria in Trastevere.   
19. 1875: Pope Pius IX (r. 1846-78).
20. 1900: Pope Leo XIII (r. 1878-1903).  
21. 1925: Pope Pius XI (r. 1922-39).  
22. 1933: Pope Pius XI. Extraordinary Jubilee to mark the 1900th anniversary of the death and resurrection of Jesus.
23. 1950: Pope Pius XII (r. 1939-58).  
24. 1975: Pope Paul VI (r. 1963-78). 
25. 1983: Pope John Paul II (r. 1978-2005). Extraordinary Jubilee to mark the 1900th anniversary of the death and resurrection of Jesus.
26. 2000: Pope John Paul II.
27. 2015: Pope Francis (r. 2013-25). Extraordinary Jubilee to mark the 50th anniversary of the conclusion of the Second Vatican Council. 
28. 2025: Pope Francis (r. 2013-25). 

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