When is the Jubilee Year? 

Pope Francis inaugurated the 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope on Christmas Eve, (24 December 2024) when he opened the Holy Door of St Peter's Basilica. When he closes this door on the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord (January 6, 2026), the Jubilee Year will officially end.

In the Diocese of Sandhurst, with permission from Pope Francis, Bishop Shane opened the Holy Door of Sacred Heart Cathedral on Palm Sunday (24 March 2024), marking the beginning of the Diocese's Jubilee Year, celebrating 150 years since it was established.

The Holy Door at Sacred Heart Cathedral will remain 'open' throughout the Universal Church's Jubilee Year 2025.

What is a Jubilee Year? 

A Jubilee Year is a sacred year of prayer and pilgrimage during which we are called to seek forgiveness and strengthen our relationships with God, with one another, and with all of creation. The concept of a Jubilee has ancient Jewish origins. In the Bible, it was a time when land was rested, people could travel over borders, debts were waivered and slaves were freed. Today, forgiveness and renewal remain key themes of a Jubilee.

The Church has been celebrating Jubilee Years since 1300, when Pope Boniface VIII declared one to mark 1300 years since the birth of Christ. 

What is the purpose of a Jubilee Year? 

Pope Francis wants this Jubilee to be a Holy Year underpinned by a "never-fading hope in God”; which will help us to recover “the confident trust" we require in the Church, in society, in our personal relationships, in international relations, and in our task of promoting the dignity of all persons and respect for God’s gift of creation.

Traditionally in a Jubilee, the Church offers pilgrims special opportunities for reconciliation, indulgences, prayer and reception of the sacraments in their local communities, in order to deepen their relationship with God.