Celebrating the Jubilee Year 2025

WHEREAS, following a period of great war and disease in the late 13th century, a multitude of the faithful made a pilgrimage to Rome for Christmas in 1299 to pray at the tombs of St. Peter and St. Paul, prompting Pope Boniface VIII to proclaim the first jubilee year in 1300, thereby inaugurating a tradition of popes proclaiming jubilee years as special opportunities to seek forgiveness for sin and its temporal punishments, while also calling on the whole of Christendom to renew their commitment to serve God with joy and peace in a spirit of solidarity, hope, and justice; and

WHEREAS, the origin of these celebrations traces its roots to the earliest days of Mosaic Law in the Book of Leviticus, which prescribed a special year for the Jewish people saying, “And you shall hallow the fiftieth year and you shall proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you;” and

WHEREAS, in 1470, Pope Paul II issued a Papal Bull setting the celebration of ordinary jubilee years at every 25 years beginning in 1475 and continuing to the present day, with particular focus on the faithful going on pilgrimage to Rome to pray at the tombs of St. Peter and St. Paul, with more-modern traditions expanding to include the opening of Holy Doors at the Papal Basilicas of St. Peter, St. John Lateran, St. Mary Major, and St. Paul outside the Walls, as well as celebrations in local dioceses throughout the world; and

WHEREAS, during the Jubilee Year 2000, the Knights of Columbus provided funds to restore the Maderno Atrium and Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica to prepare the largest church in Christendom, and an important symbol of our Church and our Catholic faith, for the third millennium of the Christian era; and

WHEREAS, during the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy proclaimed by Pope Francis in 2016, the Order promoted frequent reception of the Sacrament of Reconciliation as well as local pilgrimages to the Holy Doors in local dioceses throughout the world; and

WHEREAS, in the Bull of Indiction, Spes Non Confundit, Pope Francis proclaimed that the Ordinary Jubilee Year 2025 will commence on December 24, 2024, with the opening of the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica and conclude on January 6, 2026; and

WHEREAS, in proclaiming this Jubilee Year, the Holy Father asks the faithful to reflect especially on the need for hope, saying, “We need to recognize the immense goodness present in our world, lest we be tempted to think ourselves overwhelmed by evil and violence. The signs of the times, which include the yearning of human hearts in need of God’s saving presence, ought to become signs of hope;” and

WHEREAS, the Holy Father exhorts all people to bring hope to those for whom it is most needed in this present age—especially the poor, those who suffer from war, those who do not accept new life into the world, the young generations, the incarcerated, migrants, the sick, and the elderly; and

WHEREAS, in anticipation of the Jubilee Year 2025, the Knights of Columbus committed the necessary funds for the restoration of the iconic baldacchino over the main altar of St. Peter’s Basilica as well as the bronze statues surrounding the ancient relic of the Chair of St. Peter—all masterpieces by the Renaissance artist Gianlorenzo Bernini and important reminders of the Church’s apostolic authority as instituted by Jesus Christ.

NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that Knights of Columbus and our families welcome with joyous anticipation the Jubilee Year 2025 and commit ourselves to a year of forgiveness and renewed faith; and

FURTHER RESOLVED, that through our many charitable and faith-filled programs, Knights of Columbus will respond to the call of Pope Francis to bring hope to those communities most in need of our witness through which, we pray, they will see the face of Christ.

Celebrating the Jubilee Year 2025

Resolutions