A look at Jubilees past

Feb 19, 2025

By Arlene Gutierrez 

As we open the doors to the Pilgrims of Hope for 2025, we look back at Jubilees from years past. Since the inception of our diocese, we have experienced two Jubilees; in 2000, we had our most recent Ordinary Jubilee with the theme, “Opening Wide the Doors to Christ.” In 2015, we joined the rest of the Universal Church in an Extraordinary Jubilee, the “The Year of Mercy.” Our diocese has been active in these previous jubilees as both encompassed themes that rang in the hearts of the faithful entering the new millennium in 2000. With Pope John Paul II making a public request for us to celebrate the mercy of God and the forgiveness of sins, we opened our hearts to Christ so we would be open to Christ’s mercy. 

In 2000, our focus was on deepening our spiritual lives both individually and collectively as a community of believers in Jesus Christ. By opening our hearts and doors to Christ, we aimed to become a guiding light for those in need, whether within our families, neighborhoods, or society at large. That Jubilee marked a pivotal moment as we welcomed the millennium amid challenges such as war, famine, and a prevailing sense of uncertainty about the future. The theme served as an invitation for the faithful to reflect on their lives and consider how they might evangelize, reconcile, and celebrate their relationship with Christ within our universal church and humanity. 

Within our diocese, the call to “Open the Door Wide to Christ” translated into a commitment to our baptismal promise of evangelization and service to those in need. Six key characteristics characterized the 2000 jubilee to ensure an active engagement in our diocese. We established perpetual adoration across all six vicariates, facilitated moments of reconciliation in parishes, and designated Holy Doors at Our Lady of the Rosary Cathedral, along with a parish in each vicariate. Each participating church chose a door for this celebration. Furthermore, our diocese took a stand for victims of suffering and neglect, organizing marches inspired by the Stations of the Cross, and hosted the inaugural Encuentro 2000, fostering a mutual understanding within our culturally and ethnically diverse local Church. This spirit of encounter continues to inform various parish ministries and the current V Encuentro initiative. Lastly, we invited our faithful to make spiritual or physical journeys. These characteristics aimed to nurture the faithful so they could learn to open their hearts to receive God’s message for the 2000 Jubilee. 

As part of our call to pilgrimage throughout our diocese, we asked the Catholic faithful to visit parishes of historical significance, hold space for those plagued by injustice, and provide moments of respite for their souls. We encouraged our pilgrims to travel through Riverside and San Bernardino Counties to learn about the rich history of the parish pilgrimage sites. A travel guide was made for those who were interested in this historical journey. A Jubilee Justice convention was held at the University of California, Los Angeles for the Ministry of Faith and Justice to discuss key topics in the Diocese. The last pilgrimage we asked people to consider was to our retreat centers, places meant help enrich and heal the hearts and souls of those in our diocese who need it the most. 

The six characteristics made for the 2000 Jubilee helped the people learn to open themselves up to Christ so that they would be transformed at the end of their journey. “In order to grow, we must experience this life that God has left for us to enjoy and learn to put our faith into action by helping our brothers and sisters in need,” read one of the characteristics. “By the conclusion of this Jubilee, we hope to emerge as transformed faithful, embodying the continuous cycle of growth and change that God invites us to undertake.”

From that call to open our hearts to Christ, we now, in this 2025 Jubilee, identify as Pilgrims of Hope. What does this theme signify for us? Are we indeed pilgrims of hope for ourselves, our neighbors, friends, and family? We are called to extend our hands in unity, becoming pilgrims of hope in a world that urges us to reignite our baptismal promise and cultivate a deeper connection to Christ by embodying love and kindness, serving as a beacon of light for those in need. 

The 2000 Jubilee was a call for us to open our hearts to Christ and to one another. To allow Christ’s love to flow within us. This year, our task is to be Pilgrims of Hope together. In the Pilgrims of Hope logo for 2025, each pilgrim is holding onto one another. This image of the pilgrims signifies that this journey is not one in which we travel alone but with each other, our community, our families, our friends, and those on the outskirts of our community who need a little light in their lives. Let this be the Jubilee that you actively journey through your faith; even if this is your first Jubilee, do not let it pass you by. May we all continue this journey in our faith together as one. 

Arlene Gutierrez is the Director of the Diocesan Office of Archives.

Like a flame my hope is burning, 
may my song arise to you: 
Source of life that has no ending,
on life’s path I trust in you. 

Ev’ry nation, tongue, and people
find a light within your Word.
Scattered fragile sons and daughters
find a home in your dear Son. Rit.

God, so tender and so patient,
dawn of hope, you care for all.
Heav’n and earth are recreated
by the Spirit of Life set free. Rit.

Raise your eyes, the wind is blowing,
for our God is born in time.
Son made man for you and many
who will find the way in him. Rit.

THE HYMN - PILGRIMS of HOPE

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Jubilee Reconciliation & Indulgence

Jubilee year is a sign of reconciliation because it establishes a “favorable time” (cf. 2 Corinthians 6:2) for conversion. We are called to put God at the center of our lives, growing toward Him and acknowledging His primacy. Concretely, reconciliation is about experiencing the sacrament of Reconciliation, taking advantage of this time to rediscover the value of confession, and personally receiving God's word of forgiveness. There are some Jubilee churches that continuously offer the possibility for Reconciliation. Indulgence is a concrete manifestation of God's mercy, which surpasses and transforms the boundaries of human justice. This gift of grace came about by Jesus’ saving mission. Seeing the witnesses of Jesus and the saints and living in communion with themì our hope for our own forgiveness is strengthened. Concretely, the experience of God’s mercy involves some spiritual actions, as Pope Francis has recommended to the faithful. Those who cannot make the Jubilee pilgrimage due to illness or other circumstances are nevertheless invited to take part in the spiritual journey that accompanies this Jubilee year. Among the conditions for receiving the indulgence is praying for the Pope's intentions.

The Jubilee Logo

The cross of Christ is the hope that cannot ever be abandoned because we are always in need of it, especially in the most difficult moments.

 The Cross, in the shape of a sail, is transformed into an anchor that imposes itself over the waves in motion. A universal symbol of Hope.  

The figures represent humanity from the four corners of the World. They are embracing each other to illustrate the solidarity between the peoples, as the first holds onto the cross.

The rough sea is a reminder of the difficulties of the pilgrimage of life. Often, personal events as well as those of the world, press on us more intensely, demanding a greater hope. 

The logo shows how the way of the pilgrimage is not an individual effort, but rather collective, with the impression of a growing dynamism that tends more and more to the cross.

The Prayer

Father in heaven, may the faith you have gifted us in your son Jesus Christ, our brother, and the flame of charity kindled 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 diligent cultivators of the evangelical seeds that make humanity and the cosmos rise unto the confident expectation of the new heavens and the new earth, when with the powers of Evil overcome, your glory shall be manifested eternally. 
May the grace of the Jubilee reawaken in us, Pilgrims of Hope, the yearning for heavenly treasures and pour over all the earth the joy and peace of our Redeemer. To you God blessed in eternity, be praise and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

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What is the Jubilee?

The Jubilee has always been an event of the people. In fact, the first Holy Year
of 1300 was born at the the request of the People of God. In a climate of change of century, the faithful o f Rome asked Pope Boniface VIll for "a pardon of sins which would be not only more abundant, but complete" as we read in the Bull of Indiction.

Among the ancient Hebrews, the Jubilee (called the year of the yobel, "of the goat" because the holiday was announced by the sound of a goat's horn) was a year proclaimed holy. At that time, the Mosaic law prescribed that the land, o f which God was the sole master, would return to its former owner and that slaves would receive back their freedom. It usually would fall every 50 years.

In the Christian era, after the first Jubilee, the recurrence for the jubilee celebration was set by Boniface VIII t o b e every 100 years. In 1342, following a petition from the Romans to Pope Clement VI, the period was reduced t o 5 0 years. Subsequently, Pope Paul Il, in the mid-15th century, reduced the inter-jubilee period to 25 years.

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