Jubilee in the Catholic Church
A jubilee is a special year of remission of sins, debts and universal pardon. In Leviticus, a jubilee year is mentioned to occur every 50th year; during which slaves and prisoners would be freed, debts would be forgiven and the mercies of God would be particularly manifest.
For other uses, see Jubilee (disambiguation).In Western Christianity, the tradition dates to 1300, when Pope Boniface VIII convoked a holy year, following which ordinary jubilees have generally been celebrated every 25 or 50 years, with extraordinary jubilees in addition depending on need. Catholic jubilees, particularly in the Latin Church, generally involve a pilgrimage to a sacred site, normally the city of Rome. The Catholic Church declared an Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy for 2015–2016. The next jubilee year will be celebrated in 2025.
Definition[edit]
In Roman Catholic tradition, a jubilee or Holy Year is a year of forgiveness of sins and also the punishment due to sin. It is a year of reconciliation between adversaries, of conversion and receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation, "...and consequently of solidarity, hope, justice, commitment to serve God with joy and in peace with our brothers and sisters".[2] A jubilee can be ordinary if it falls after the set period of years or extraordinary if it is proclaimed for some outstanding event.
History[edit]
First Christian jubilee[edit]
In the face of great suffering, caused by wars and diseases such as the plague thousands of pilgrims came to Rome at Christmas in 1299. Cardinal Giacomo Gaetani Stefaneschi, the contemporary and counsellor of Pope Boniface VIII, and author of a treatise on the first Christian jubilee, noted that the proclamation of the jubilee owed its origin to the statements of certain aged pilgrims who persuaded Boniface that great indulgences had been granted to all pilgrims in Rome about a hundred years before.[1]
On February 22, 1300, Boniface published the bull "Antiquorum habet fida relatio",[3] in which, appealing vaguely to the precedent of past ages, he declared "...the most full, pardon of all their sins", to those who fulfill certain conditions. These are, first, that being truly penitent they confess their sins, and secondly, that they visit the basilicas of St. Peter and St. Paul in Rome, at least once a day for a specified time—in the case of the inhabitants of the city for 30 days, in the case of strangers for 15 days.[1]
The word "jubilee" does not occur in the bull. The pope speaks rather of a celebration which is to occur every 100 years, but writers both Roman and foreign described this year as annus jubileus, and the name "jubilee" (though others, such as the "holy year" or "the golden year", have been used, as well) has been applied to such celebrations ever since.[1] Among those who are recorded as among the pilgrims of that first jubilee are Cimabue, Giotto, Charles, Count of Valois, the chronicler Giovanni Villani, and Dante Alighieri, who mentions it in the Divine Comedy in Canto XXXI of "Paradiso".
Jubilee of 1350[edit]
Boniface VIII had intended that the jubilee should be celebrated only once in 100 years. Before the middle of the 14th century, Bridget of Sweden and the poet Petrarch (among others) urged Pope Clement VI,[4] then residing at Avignon, to change this. In 1343, Clement VI assented and issued the bull "Unigenitus", and set the time frame for every 50 years.[4] In 1350, a jubilee was held, and although the pope did not return to Rome, Cardinal Gaetani Ceccano was dispatched to represent him. On this occasion, daily visits to the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran were enjoined, besides those to the basilicas of St. Peter and St. Paul outside the Walls.[2][1]
Jubilees of 1390 and 1423[edit]
In virtue of an ordinance of Pope Urban VI, it was proposed to hold a jubilee every 33 years as representing the period of the sojourn of Christ upon earth and also the average span of human life.[1] The next jubilee was held in 1390, and the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore was added to the list. The visits to these four churches has remained as one of the conditions for gaining the Roman jubilee indulgence.[1]
In 1400 so many people came to Rome that Pope Boniface IX granted the indulgence again, though he had not decreed a jubilee year previously. One of the most severe occurrences of plague during the Second plague pandemic was exacerbated by the many pilgrims making their way to and from Rome; in the city itself 600–800 of the faithful died daily.[5]
Another jubilee was proclaimed by Pope Martin V in 1423 (33 years after the last proclaimed jubilee in 1390), but Pope Nicholas V, in 1450, reverted to the quinquagesimal period, while in 1470 Pope Paul II decreed that the jubilee should be celebrated every 25 years, and this has been the normal rule ever since.[1] Paul also permitted foreigners to visit some specified church in their own country, and contribute towards the expense of the Holy Wars, as a substitute for the pilgrimage to Rome.
Next Jubilee[edit]
A jubilee year will be celebrated in 2025, which will also be the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea (325 AD). Pope Francis has asked for 2024 to be seen as a year of prayerful preparation.[13]
Ceremonial of the jubilee[edit]
The most distinctive feature in the ceremonial of the jubilee is the unwalling and the final walling up of the "holy door" in each of the four great basilicas which the pilgrims are required to visit.[1] The doors are opened by the pope at the beginning of the jubilee and then sealed up again afterwards. Previously, the rite included the use of a silver hammer (for removing the concrete at the opening) and a silver trowel (for sealing it again after the jubilee). The pope would pound on the wall, which would then be set to collapse. This ritual caused injury to bystanders, so for the Great Jubilee of 2000, Pope John Paul II simplified the rite considerably, opening and closing the doors with his hands.
Traditionally, the pope himself opens and closes the doors of St. Peter's Basilica personally, and designates a cardinal to open those of St. John Lateran, St. Mary Major, and St. Paul Outside the Walls. In the Great Jubilee, the pope chose to open all the doors personally, while designating cardinals to close all the doors except that of St. Peter's.
Catholic parishes all over the world share a similar rite dedicating a door for the purposes of the jubilee year to accommodate its parishioners who do not intend to visit Rome for the occasion. Local parishes' doors include the same indulgence given to the basilica doors.
Miscellaneous jubilee events[edit]
In August 2020, Pope Francis approved the extension of the Jubilee Year of Loreto to 2021. The jubilee year marks the 100th anniversary of the official proclamation of Our Lady of Loreto as the patroness of pilots and air passengers. It began December 8, 2019 and was due to end December 10, 2020, the feast of Our Lady of Loreto, but was extended to December 10, 2021 because of disruptions due to the coronavirus.[14]
Pope John Paul II named some of his voyages jubilee pilgrimages: to Mount Sinai and the Holy Land in 2000 and a Jubilee Pilgrimage in the Footsteps of Saint Paul in 2001 to Malta, Syria, and Greece.
Jubilee indulgence[edit]
This is a plenary indulgence which, as stated by Pope Boniface VIII in consistory, it is the intention of the Holy See to grant in the most ample manner possible. When first conceded, such an indulgence, and also the privilege annexed of choosing a confessor who had power to absolve from reserved cases, was a much rarer spiritual boon than it has since become. So preeminent was the favor then regarded that the custom arose of suspending all other indulgences during the jubilee year, a practice which, with certain modifications, still exists to the present day. The precise conditions for gaining each jubilee indulgence are determined by the Roman pontiff, and they are usually announced in a special Bull, distinct from that which it is customary to issue on the preceding feast of the Ascension giving notice of the forthcoming celebration. The main conditions, however, which do not usually vary, are five: confession, Communion, prayer for the Pope, complete renunciation of all attachment to sin, and visits to the four basilicas during a certain specified period. (The first four are common to all plenary indulgences.) The statement made by some, that the jubilee indulgence, being a culpa et a paena, did not of old presuppose either confession or repentance, is absolutely without foundation, and is contradicted by every extant official document of the Roman Catholic Church. Besides the ordinary jubilee indulgence, to be gained only by pilgrims who pay a visit to Rome, or through special concession by certain cloistered religious confined within their monasteries, it has long been customary to extend this indulgence the following year to the faithful throughout the world, though in 2000, the indulgence was extended to the whole world during the jubilee year itself. For this, fresh conditions are appointed, usually including a certain number of visits to local churches and sometimes fasting or other works of charity. Further, the popes have constantly exercised their prerogative of conceding to all the faithful indulgences ad instar jubilaei (after the model of a jubilee) which are commonly known as "extraordinary jubilees". On these occasions, as at the jubilee itself, special facilities are usually accorded for absolution from reserved cases, though on the other hand, the great indulgence is only to be gained by the performance of conditions much more onerous than those required for an ordinary plenary indulgence. Such extraordinary jubilees are commonly granted by a newly elected pontiff at his accession or on occasions of some unexpected celebration, as was done, for example, at the convening of the First Vatican Council, or again at times of great calamity.[1]
Pope John Paul II convoked jubilees in 1983 (Holy Year of the Redemption) and in 2000 (the Great Jubilee). In 2000, he greatly liberalized the conditions for gaining the jubilee indulgence. A visit to only one of the four patriarchal basilicas in Rome was necessary (entering through the holy door). To the four basilicas were added the Sanctuary of Divine Love in Rome, and each diocese was permitted to name a location within the diocese where the indulgence could be gained. For instance, the Diocese of Rome added the chapel in the airport at Fiumicino as a possible pilgrimage site. Most dioceses simply named the local cathedral as the pilgrimage site. Multiple visits were not required. On the last full day of the jubilee, pilgrims were permitted to enter the holy door at St. Peter's until late into the night, so that no one would be denied the opportunity to gain the indulgence. The requirements of confession, communion, prayer for the pope, and freedom from all attachment to sin remained in place, as for all plenary indulgences.