The next Jubilee will be in 2025, and the faithful around the world are eagerly awaiting it.

As many know, the Jubilee is a special year of grace, in which the Church invites the faithful to conversion and offers them the opportunity to request a plenary indulgence, that is, remission of sins for themselves or deceased relatives.

Pope Francis asked that 2023 be dedicated to revisiting the fundamental themes of the four constitutions of the Second Vatican Council, so that the Church may once again reflect on the Council’s profound teaching.

For this reason, 35 accessible volumes are being produced by the Dicastery for Evangelization and published by Shalom Publishing. Written by experts in an engaging style, they are intended to spark the curiosity of those who have no memory of the conciliar event and help them learn about its teaching. Pope Francis himself, in the Introduction to the first volume in the series, states: “Preparing for the 2025 Jubilee by taking up again the fundamental texts of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council is a commitment that I ask everyone to embrace as a moment of growth in faith. […] I hope that these resources will be widely welcomed and bear good fruit for the renewal of our communities.”

Like every holy year, this one too is intended to be set within the historical context in which humanity is living. The fragility experienced in recent years due to Covid, together with the fear of the violence of wars, has generated a sense of disorientation and confusion about the future. Hence the need arose to experience the next Jubilee in the light of hope.

As Pope Francis wrote in his letter for the Jubilee to Archbishop Fisichella, President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization: “We must keep alight the torch of hope that has been given to us, and do everything possible so that everyone may regain the strength and certainty to look to the future with an open spirit, a trusting heart and a far-sighted mind. The next Jubilee can greatly contribute to restoring an atmosphere of hope and trust, as a sign of a renewed rebirth whose urgency we all feel. For this reason, I have chosen the motto Pilgrims of hope.”