The Jubilee Year 2025: Pilgrims of Hope
2025 is a special year for the worldwide Church, because it is a Year of Jubilee, something which happens every 25 years. Announcing this Jubilee Year, Pope Francis called us to be “Pilgrims of Hope”. The year began with Pope Francis opening a “Holy Door” at St Peter’s in Rome on Christmas Eve 2024 and is now being celebrated in many different ways around the world.
2025 is also special to our Archdiocese because of two noteworthy anniversaries:
the 175th anniversary of the establishment of the Southwark Diocese by Pope Pius IX in September 1850, as part of the restoration of the Catholic hierarchy in England and Wales.
the 60th anniversary of Southwark becoming a Metropolitan Archdiocese, and the appointment of Archbishop Cowderoy as our first Archbishop in May 1965.
Archbishop John is encouraging us all to participate in this Jubilee Year, and there are many different ways to do that.
The centre-piece for our Archdiocese was the Archdiocesan Jubilee Celebration Day, which took place on Saturday 7 June 2025, the Vigil of Pentecost. People from all over the Archdiocese gathered with Archbishop John at The Friars, Aylesford, for different activities to celebrate together being “pilgrims of hope”.
The Jubilee theme is particularly reflected in three types of pilgrimage:
An exploring pilgrimage: at any time during the Jubilee Year you can visit some or all of the Archdiocese’s designated Jubilee Churches and Shrines.
A spiritual pilgrimage: between Easter and Pentecost joining the Pilgrimage to Pentecost course in a parish or other group, on Zoom or on your own at home. Following in the footsteps of Our Lady and the first disciples, we prepared for Pentecost and the coming of the Holy Spirit in prayer and Scripture-based reflection. The course comprised talks filmed at chosen locations around the Archdiocese and a specially written course booklet. The video series will be extended and the booklet reissued for future use.
A walking pilgrimage: in the week before Pentecost, from Monday 2 June to Friday 6 June, dozens of pilgrims took part in the Southwark Jubilee Walking Pilgrimage from St George’s Cathedral to The Friars, Aylesford, in good time for the Archdiocesan Jubilee Celebration Day.
There are a number of other resources for your use during the year, including We Dare to Hope which can be used in small groups in the parish as well as information on the Constitutions of the Second Vatican Council which we are invited to explore during the Jubilee. Further information on the history of Jubilee can be found on our archdiocesan jubilee page.
