The Jubilee Year, with the theme of ‘Pilgrims Of Hope’ has officially begun in our diocese. On the Feast of The Holy Family, the opening of the door took place at Plymouth Cathedral, presided over by Canon Paul Cummins, our Diocesan Administrator.

On Christmas Eve, Pope Francis opened the Holy Door of Saint Peter’s Basilica and officially inaugurated the 2025 Jubilee of Hope. During his Christmas evening Mass, he reassured the faithful that the Christ Child of Bethlehem offers the world infinite hope and joy. 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.

Canon Paul Cummins, the Diocesan Administrator says: “Whilst Rome is rightly the focus of Jubilee Years, the Pope has also asked every Diocese to designate certain places to be local centres of pilgrimage. During this year, we are encouraged to visit these places of pilgrimage and to spend some time in prayerful reflection there. In our Diocese, these places are the Cathedral in Plymouth, St Cuthbert Mayne Church in Launceston, the National Shrine of St Boniface in Crediton, and Holy Trinity Church in Dorchester. Pilgrim Passports will shortly be distributed to all parishes, which will give details of the pilgrim sites, and offer encouragement to you to visit them during the year if you are able. Also, each of the pilgrimage sites will have celebrations on specific significant days during the Jubilee Year which will be advertised nearer the time.

“We invite Catholics and non Catholics alike to make a pilgrimage to these four churches. The Jubilee Year is a time to reestablish our relationship with God, with one another, and with all of creation. The Jubilee Year will be a year of hope for our world suffering the impacts of war, the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and our climate in crisis.

“May this Jubilee Year be for you a time of reflection, of new insight, and of a deepening of your relationship with the Lord. May our love be a witness to those who may feel lost or hopeless, and may it encourage them on their pilgrimage to find the way, the truth and the life.”

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