BULL OF PROCLAMATION OF THE JUBILEE OF PRAYER OF THE YEAR 2025

“Spes non confundit – Hope does not deceive” (Rom 5:5).

1. Hope is the central message of the coming Jubilee.
2. May it be for everyone a moment of living and personal encounter with the Lord Jesus, the “door” of salvation (cf. Jn 10:7,9);
3. May the Jubilee be for everyone an occasion to rekindle hope! The Word of God helps us to find the reasons for this.

ALL: Hope does not deceive, because the love of God has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (Rom 5:1-2.5).

2. Hope is born of love and is founded on the love that springs from the Heart of Jesus pierced on the cross and is always renewed and made invincible by the action of the Holy Spirit.
3. For this very reason, this hope does not give way in difficulties: it is founded on faith and nourished by charity, thus making it possible to advance in life.
4. St. Paul is very realistic. He knows that life is made up of joys and sufferings, that love is put to the test when difficulties increase, and hope seems to crumble in the face of suffering. And yet he writes:

ALL: “We glory also in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces patience, and patience steadfastness, and steadfastness hope” (Rm 5:3-4).

3. Tribulation and suffering are the typical conditions of all those who proclaim the Gospel in contexts of misunderstanding and persecution (cf. 2 Cor 6:3-10). Yet, through the darkness, a light is glimpsed: it is discovered that evangelization is sustained by the power that flows from the cross and resurrection of Christ.
4. This gives rise to a virtue that is a close relative of hope: patience.
5. We have become accustomed to wanting everything and now, in a world where haste has become a constant…. Patience has been put to flight by haste, causing serious harm to individuals and families; intolerance, nervousness and, at times, gratuitous violence arise, generating dissatisfaction and isolation.
6. In the age of the internet, where space and time are supplanted by the “here and now”, patience no longer belongs to the home. If we were still able to admire creation, we could understand how decisive patience is. To wait for the alternation of the seasons with their fruits; to observe the life of animals and the cycles of their respective development.

ALL: Rediscovering patience does us and others good. St. Paul often refers to patience to emphasize the importance of perseverance and trust in what God has promised us, but above all he testifies that God is patient with us.

He is “the God of patience and consolation” (Rom 15:5). Patience – the fruit of the Holy Spirit – keeps hope alive and consolidates it as a virtue and a way of life.

ALL: Therefore, let us learn to ask often for the grace of patience, which is the daughter of hope and, at the same time, its support.

1. This Holy Year will guide the way towards another fundamental date for all Christians: in 2033, the two thousandth anniversary of the Redemption, realized through the passion, death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus, will be celebrated.
2. To establish that, on Sunday, December 29, 2024, in all cathedrals and co-cathedrals, the diocesan bishops will celebrate Holy Mass as the solemn opening of the Jubilee Year.
3. The pilgrimage from the church chosen for the gathering to the cathedral is the sign of the path of hope which, enlightened by the Word of God, unites believers.
4. During the Holy Year, the People of God should participate fully in the proclamation of the hope of God’s grace and in the signs that bear witness to its efficacy.

ALL: May the light of Christian hope reach every person, as a message of God’s love addressed to all.

1.May the first sign of hope be translated into peace for the world, once more emerged in the tragedy of war. The Jubilee reminds us that all those who become “workers of peace” (Mt 5) will be “called children of God”.

2. The need for peace challenges everyone and imposes the presumption of concrete projects.
3. To look to the future with hope is also to have a vision of life charged with enthusiasm to transmit, and in many situations this perspective is lacking. The first consequence is the lack of desire to transmit life. In many countries there is a worrying drop in the birth rate.1. La apertura a la vida, con una maternidad y paternidad responsables, es el proyecto que el Criador inscribió en el corazón y en el cuerpo de los hombres y mujeres, una misión que el Señor confía a los cónyuges y a su amor.
4. In the Jubilee Year, we will be called to be tangible signs of hope for many brothers and sisters who live in difficult conditions. I am thinking of the prisoners who, deprived of their freedom, in addition to the harshness of imprisonment, experience day by day the affective void, the restrictions imposed and, in not a few cases, the lack of respect.
5. In order to give prisoners a concrete sign of closeness, I myself wish to open a Holy Door in a prison, so that it may be for them a symbol that invites them to look to the future with hope and to a renewed commitment to life.
6. Signs of hope are to be offered to the sick, whether at home or in the hospital.

ALL: The works of mercy are also works of hope, which awaken in hearts feelings of gratitude. And may gratitude reach all health professionals who work in conditions that are so often difficult.

2. Signs of hope are also needed by those who, in themselves, represent hope: young people.
3. They often see their dreams crumble. We cannot disappoint you: the future is founded on their enthusiasm. How beautiful it is to see them radiate energy when they willingly roll up their sleeves and get involved in situations of calamity and social unrest!

ALL: May the Jubilee be, in the Church, the occasion for an impulse in their favor: with renewed passion, let us take care of adolescents, students, those who are in love, the younger generations! Let us remain close to young people, the joy and hope of the Church and of the world!

Sister Deolinda Rodrigues

Lisbon – Portugal