The Jubilee Year - Pilgrims of Hope
The Jubilee Year – Pilgrims of Hope
Pope Francis has declared that the year 2025 will be a Holy Year of Jubilee for the Catholic Church – an event that takes place once every 25 years.
The theme for the 2025 Jubilee is “Pilgrims of Hope”, an invitation to showcase the hope of our Christian faith to people right across the world at a time when there is so much suffering from the impact of war, poverty, climate change, and the lasting effects of the COVID pandemic.
The Pilgrims of Hope Jubilee presents each one of us with an opportunity to reignite the flame of our faith in our own hearts and to share the light of that faith with those in darkness.
What is a Jubilee?
The concept of Jubilee is one rooted in the earliest days of Judeo-Christian tradition.
In the Book of Leviticus, we read that the people of Israel celebrated this tradition every 50 years.
Its purpose was to re-establish a proper relationship with God, with one another, and with all of creation. It involved the forgiveness of debts, the return of misappropriated land, and a fallow period for the fields.
Today, the Catholic Church celebrates this tradition once every 25 years as a year of grace, offering the faithful the opportunity to renew faith through prayer, pilgrimage, acts of charity, and by asking for a plenary indulgence – a special grace that strengthens our wounded souls in the fight against sin.
How are we celebrating the year of the Jubilee?
The Jubilee year began on Christmas Eve 2024 and concludes on 6th January 2026. Throughout the year, we will celebrate in a number of exciting and prayerful ways.
We launched the year in January with a whole school celebration of the word. We were invited to dress in the colours of the jubilee logo and all looked fabulous. During this time, we reflected on the mission we had been by sharing the words from Luke 4:14-21 and together we asked for Jesus to guide us on our journey.
Our mission: Be a pilgrim of hope and share the love of Jesus with others.
Mrs Kippax was presented with a special anchor, blessed by Bishop John, and you can see this on our prayer focus in the school hall. The anchor is well known as a symbol of hope. In maritime jargon the 'anchor of hope' refers to the reserve anchor used by vessels involved in emergency manoeuvres to stabilise the ship during storms.
In November, we will celebrate the arrival of the anchor that is travelling around Salford Diocese at our school. The Anchor of Hope is currently on a Pilgrimage around all 37 schools in the Salford Diocese. This has been presented to schools by Bishop John Arnold to commemorate the ‘Jubilee Year 2025’. All schools get to host the anchor and proudly display it in school. They will in turn pass it on after tying a ribbon onto the anchor and writing the name of the school. We look forward to receiving the anchor from Mount Carmel High School on 7th November.
Getting involved with the Jubilee year at home
As part of the year of Jubilee, Pope Francis invites us to spend more time with God by talking to him in prayer and in our churches.
This pilgrim’s passport can help us to do just this.
Click the icon to take you to the Pilgrims of Hope Passport
The Jubilee Prayer 
Father in heaven,
may the faith you have given us
in your son, Jesus Christ, our brother,
and the flame of charity enkindled
in our hearts by the Holy Spirit,
reawaken in us the blessed hope
for the coming of your Kingdom.
May your grace transform us
into tireless cultivators of the seeds of the Gospel.
May those seeds transform from within both humanity and the whole cosmos
in the sure expectation
of a new heaven and a new earth,
when, with the powers of Evil vanquished,
your glory will shine eternally.
May the grace of the Jubilee
reawaken in us, Pilgrims of Hope,
a yearning for the treasures of heaven.
May that same grace spread
the joy and peace of our Redeemer
throughout the earth.
To you our God, eternally blessed,
be glory and praise for ever.
Amen.