[News Terms] Pope Officially Proclaims '2025 Jubilee Year'

From December 24 This Year to January 6, 2026
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Pope Francis officially announced on the 9th (local time) that the regular 'Jubilee Year,' which occurs every 25 years, will be held next year.

The 'Jubilee Year (year of jubilee, 禧年)' refers to a sacred year in the Catholic Church during which special spiritual graces are bestowed upon the faithful. In the Old Testament, Leviticus 25 states that the Jubilee occurs every 50 years. It is the 50th year following seven cycles of sabbatical years.

Pope Francis is waving to the faithful gathered to celebrate Christmas on the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican on December 25 last year.
[Photo by AP/ Yonhap News]

In Judaism, during the Jubilee Year, Jews return to their family lands, cultivated fields lie fallow, all slaves are freed, and debtors receive debt forgiveness. It is recorded in the Scriptures as the 'Year of the Lord's Favor' or the 'Year of Liberty.'

The Hebrew word for Jubilee is 'Yovel,' and in English, it is transliterated as 'Jubilee.' Yovel means 'ram's horn,' originating from the blowing of the Yovel trumpet to proclaim the Jubilee. It signifies 'a year of blowing the trumpet to proclaim the joy of freedom.'

The Catholic Church began observing the Jubilee Year in February 1300 under Pope Boniface VIII. Boniface VIII initially set the Jubilee to occur every 100 years, but his successor, Pope Clement VI, proclaimed a Jubilee in 1350. In 1470, Pope Paul II declared that every generation should hold at least one Jubilee, and from 1475 onward, the Jubilee has been celebrated every 25 years.

There are regular Jubilees every 25 years and special Jubilees proclaimed irregularly. The last regular Jubilee was held in 2000 under Pope John Paul II, and Pope Francis declared 2016 a special Jubilee to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the closing of the Second Vatican Council.

This upcoming regular Jubilee will begin on December 24 and end on January 6, 2026. On that day, Pope Francis will preside over an evening prayer service at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican and deliver a message of hope through a papal bull.

Pope Francis.
Photo by AFP/Yonhap News

In the 10-page papal bull, the Pope condemned the 'scandal' of global poverty and the fear of war, advocated for the rights of migrants, and emphasized the need to increase birth rates in many countries. He also called for the abolition of the death penalty, urged governments to grant pardons to prisoners, and demanded debt relief for poor nations.

The Pope stated, "If we truly want to open the way to world peace, let us address the causes of injustice, cancel unjust and unpayable debts, and dedicate ourselves to feeding the hungry."

With the official countdown to the regular Jubilee underway, Rome, surrounding the Vatican, is hastening preparations to welcome guests. Approximately 30 million pilgrims are expected to visit Rome for this Jubilee, and the city has allocated a budget of 4 billion euros (about 5.9 trillion won) to comprehensively renovate aging roads and transportation facilities around the Vatican and expand pedestrian spaces.