The Diocese of Brooklyn marked the start of a year of celebration last weekend with two special masses and a procession through the streets of Brooklyn.
Bishop Robert Brennan kicked off the Year of Jubilee 2025 on Dec. 29 with a morning mass at the Cathedral Basilica of St. James, then embarked on a march to the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph, where he celebrated a Spanish mass with parishioners.
The day marked a momentous occasion in the Catholic church, the start of the Jubilee Year 2025. A jubilee year is declared by the pope roughly every 25 years, and the last one was celebrated by St. John Paul II in 2000, which welcomed the church into its third millennium.
In the Catholic faith, a jubilee year marks a time for pilgrimage, prayer, and repentance. In 2025, Catholics are encouraged to make pilgrimages to Rome to pray, attend missions and events at local churches, and do some good deeds — like visiting prisons or nursing homes and taking one day a week to fast from distractions like social media or watching TV.
Various churches around the U.S. will also be made special places of prayer for pilgrims who can’t go abroad.
“How appropriate that was as every once in a while, we have to stop in our tracks, go back, find Jesus in our lives and see him in new ways,” Brennan said in his homily. “To the faithful in Brooklyn and Queens, I extend this invitation to go forth and begin your journey as a joyful, missionary disciple of Jesus, giving witness to the tenderness and nearness of God’s own love.”
Pope Francis proclaimed 2025 as The Jubilee of Hope, with a central theme of “hope does not disappoint” and a call to Catholics worldwide to become “pilgrims of hope.”
The 2025 Jubilee Year officially started on Dec. 24th at St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican and will continue until Jan. 6th, 2026. Pope Francis invited pilgrims to the Vatican to walk through the Holy Door at St. Peter’s. The next Jubilee Year is not planned until 2033 to commemorate the anniversary of the crucifixion of Christ.
“This Jubilee comes at a time when the world is recovering from various crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic, and facing ongoing challenges such as social division and environmental concerns,” wrote Fr. Joseph R. Gibino, pastor of St. Charles, in an announcement of the celebration. “The theme ‘Pilgrims of Hope’ reflects the call to journey together in faith, seeking renewal and transformation.”
