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SPES NON CONFUNDIT
BULL OF INDICTION
OF THE ORDINARY JUBILEE
OF THE YEAR 2025
FRANCIS
BISHOP OF ROME
SERVANT OF THE SERVANTS OF GOD
TO ALL WHO READ THIS LETTER
MAY HOPE FILL YOUR HEARTS
1. SPES NON CONFUNDIT. “Hope does not
disappoint” (Rom 5:5). In the spirit of hope,
the Apostle Paul addressed these words of
encouragement to the Christian community of
Rome. Hope is also the central message of the
coming Jubilee that, in accordance with an
ancient tradition, the Pope proclaims every
twenty-five years. My thoughts turn to all those
pilgrims of hope who will travel to Rome in
order to experience the Holy Year and to all
those others who, though unable to visit the
City of the Apostles Peter and Paul, will
celebrate it in their local Churches. For
everyone, may the Jubilee be a moment of
genuine, personal encounter with the Lord Jesus,
the “door” (cf. Jn 10:7.9) of our salvation,
whom the Church is charged to proclaim always,
everywhere and to all as “our hope” (1 Tim 1:1).
Everyone knows what it is to hope. In the heart
of each person, hope dwells as the desire and
expectation of good things to come, despite our
not knowing what the future may bring. Even so,
uncertainty about the future may at times give
rise to conflicting feelings, ranging from
confident trust to apprehensiveness, from
serenity to anxiety, from firm conviction to
hesitation and doubt. Often we come across
people who are discouraged, pessimistic and
cynical about the future, as if nothing could
possibly bring them happiness. For all of us,
may the Jubilee be an opportunity to be renewed
in hope. God’s word helps us find reasons for
that hope. Taking it as our guide, let us return
to the message that the Apostle Paul wished to
communicate to the Christians of Rome.
A word of hope
2. “Since we are justified through faith, we
have peace with God through our Lord Jesus
Christ, through whom we have obtained access to
this grace in which we stand; and we boast in
our hope of sharing in the glory of God… Hope
does not disappoint, because God’s love has been
poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit
that has been given to us” (Rom 5:1-2.5). In
this passage, Saint Paul gives us much to
reflect upon. We know that the Letter to the
Romans marked a decisive turning point in his
work of evangelization. Until then, he had
carried out his activity in the eastern part of
the Empire, but now he turns to Rome and all
that Rome meant in the eyes of the world. Before
him lay a great challenge, which he took up for
the sake of preaching the Gospel, which knows no
barriers or confines. The Church of Rome was not
founded by Paul, yet he felt impelled to hasten
there in order to bring to everyone the Gospel
of Jesus Christ, crucified and risen from the
dead, a message of hope that fulfils the ancient
promises, leads to glory and, grounded in love,
does not disappoint.
3. Hope is born of love and based on the love
springing from the pierced heart of Jesus upon
the cross: “For if while we were enemies, we
were reconciled to God through the death of his
Son, much more surely, having been reconciled,
will we be saved by his life” (Rom 5:19). That
life becomes manifest in our own life of faith,
which begins with Baptism, develops in openness
to God’s grace and is enlivened by a hope
constantly renewed and confirmed by the working
of the Holy Spirit.
By his perennial presence in the life of the
pilgrim Church, the Holy Spirit illumines all
believers with the light of hope. He keeps that
light burning, like an ever-burning lamp, to
sustain and invigorate our lives. Christian hope
does not deceive or disappoint because it is
grounded in the certainty that nothing and no
one may ever separate us from God’s love: “Who
will separate us from the love of Christ?
Hardship, or distress, or persecution, or
famine, or nakedness, or peril or the sword? No,
in all these things we are more than conquerors
through him who loved us. For I am convinced
that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor
rulers, nor things present, nor things to come,
nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything
else in all creation, will be able to separate
us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our
Lord” ( Rom 8:35.37-39). Here we see the reason
why this hope perseveres in the midst of trials:
founded on faith and nurtured by charity, it
enables us to press forward in life. As Saint
Augustine observes: “Whatever our state of life,
we cannot live without these three dispositions
of the soul, namely, to believe, to hope and to
love”. [1]
4. Saint Paul is a realist. He knows that life
has its joys and sorrows, that love is tested
amid trials, and that hope can falter in the
face of suffering. Even so, he can write: “We
boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering
produces endurance, and endurance produces
character, and character produces hope” (Rom
5:3-4). For the Apostle, trials and tribulations
mark the lives of those who preach the Gospel
amid incomprehension and persecution (cf. 2 Cor
6:3-10). Yet in those very contexts, beyond the
darkness we glimpse a light: we come to realize
that evangelization is sustained by the power
flowing from Christ’s cross and resurrection. In
this way, we learn to practise a virtue closely
linked to hope, namely patience. In our
fast-paced world, we are used to wanting
everything now. We no longer have time simply to
be with others; even families find it hard to
get together and enjoy one another’s company.
Patience has been put to flight by frenetic
haste, and this has proved detrimental, since it
leads to impatience, anxiety and even gratuitous
violence, resulting in more unhappiness and
self-centredness.
Nor is there much place for patience in this age
of the Internet, as space and time yield to an
ever-present “now”. Were we still able to
contemplate creation with a sense of awe, we
might better understand the importance of
patience. We could appreciate the changes of the
seasons and their harvests, observe the life of
animals and their cycles of growth, and enjoy
the clarity of vision of Saint Francis. In his
Canticle of the Creatures, written exactly eight
hundred years ago, Francis saw all creation as a
great family and could call the sun his
“brother” and the moon his “sister”. [2] A
renewed appreciation of the value of patience
could only prove beneficial for ourselves and
for others. Saint Paul often speaks of patience
in the context of our need for perseverance and
confident trust in God’s promises. Yet, before
all else, he testifies to God’s own patience, as
“the God of all patience and encouragement” (
Rom 15:5). Patience, one of the fruits of the
Holy Spirit, sustains our hope and strengthens
it as a virtue and a way of life. May we learn
to pray frequently for the grace of patience,
which is both the daughter of hope and at the
same time its firm foundation.
A journey of hope
5. This interplay of hope and patience makes us
see clearly that the Christian life is a journey
calling for moments of greater intensity to
encourage and sustain hope as the constant
companion that guides our steps towards the goal
of our encounter with the Lord Jesus. I like to
think that the proclamation of the first
Jubilee, in the year 1300, was preceded by a
journey of grace inspired by popular
spirituality. How can we fail to recall the
various ways by which the grace of forgiveness
had been poured out upon God’s holy and faithful
People? We are reminded, for example, of the
great “Pardon” that Saint Celestine V granted to
all those who visited the Basilica of Santa
Maria di Collemaggio in Aquila on the 28th and
29th days of August 1294, six years before Pope
Boniface VIII instituted the Holy Year. The
Church was already experiencing the grace of the
Jubilee as an outpouring of divine mercy. Even
earlier, in 1216, Pope Honorius III granted the
plea of Saint Francis for an indulgence for all
those visiting the Porziuncola on the first two
days of August. The same can be said of the
pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela: in 1222,
Pope Callistus II allowed the Jubilee to be
celebrated there whenever the Feast of the
Apostle James fell on a Sunday. It is good that
such “dispersed” celebrations of the Jubilee
continue, so that the power of God’s forgiveness
can support and accompany communities and
individuals on their pilgrim way.
Pilgrimage is of course a fundamental element of
every Jubilee event. Setting out on a journey is
traditionally associated with our human quest
for meaning in life. A pilgrimage on foot is a
great aid for rediscovering the value of
silence, effort and simplicity of life. In the
coming year, pilgrims of hope will surely travel
the ancient and more modern routes in order to
experience the Jubilee to the full. In Rome
itself, along with the usual visits to the
catacombs and the Seven Churches, other
itineraries of faith will be proposed.
Journeying from one country to another as if
borders no longer mattered, and passing from one
city to another in contemplating the beauty of
creation and masterpieces of art, we learn to
treasure the richness of different experiences
and cultures, and are inspired to lift up that
beauty, in prayer, to God, in thanksgiving for
his wondrous works. The Jubilee Churches along
the pilgrimage routes and in the city of Rome
can serve as oases of spirituality and places of
rest on the pilgrimage of faith, where we can
drink from the wellsprings of hope, above all by
approaching the sacrament of Reconciliation, the
essential starting-point of any true journey of
conversion. In the particular Churches, special
care should be taken to prepare priests and the
faithful to celebrate the sacrament of
Confession and to make it readily available in
its individual form.
In a particular way, I would like to invite the
faithful of the Eastern Churches, particularly
those already in full communion with the
Successor of Peter, to take part in this
pilgrimage. They have suffered greatly, often
even unto death, for their fidelity to Christ
and the Church, and so they should feel
themselves especially welcome in this City of
Rome that is also their Mother and cherishes so
many memories of their presence. The Catholic
Church, enriched by their ancient liturgies and
the theology and spirituality of their Fathers,
monks and theologians, wants to give symbolic
expression to its embrace of them and their
Orthodox brothers and sisters in these times
when they endure their own Way of the Cross,
often forced by violence and instability to
leave their homelands, their holy lands, for
safer places. For them, the hope born of the
knowledge that they are loved by the Church,
which does not abandon them but follows them
wherever they go, will make the symbolism of the
Jubilee all the more powerful.
6. The Holy Year of 2025 is itself in continuity
with preceding celebrations of grace. In the
last Ordinary Jubilee, we crossed the threshold
of two millennia from the birth of Jesus Christ.
Then, on 13 March 2015, I proclaimed an
Extraordinary Jubilee for the sake of making
known and encouraging an encounter with the
“merciful face of God”, [3] the core message of
the Gospel for every man and woman of every time
and place. Now the time has come for a new
Jubilee, when once more the Holy Door will be
flung open to invite everyone to an intense
experience of the love of God that awakens in
hearts the sure hope of salvation in Christ. The
Holy Year will also guide our steps towards yet
another fundamental celebration for all
Christians: 2033 will mark the two thousandth
anniversary of the redemption won by the
passion, death and resurrection of the Lord
Jesus. We are about to make a pilgrimage marked
by great events, in which the grace of God
precedes and accompanies his people as they
press forward firm in faith, active in charity
and steadfast in hope (cf. 1 Thess 1:3) .
Sustained by this great tradition, and certain
that the Jubilee Year will be for the entire
Church a lively experience of grace and hope, I
hereby decree that the Holy Door of the Basilica
of Saint Peter in the Vatican will be opened on
24 December 2024, thus inaugurating the Ordinary
Jubilee. On the following Sunday, 29 December
2024, I will open the Holy Door of my cathedral,
Saint John Lateran, which on 9 November this
year will celebrate the 1700th anniversary of
its dedication. Then, on 1 January 2025, the
Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, the Holy Door
of the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major will
be opened. Finally, Sunday, 5 January 2025, will
mark the opening of the Holy Door of the Papal
Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls. These
last three Holy Doors will be closed on Sunday,
28 December 2025.
I further decree that on Sunday, 29 December
2024, in every cathedral and co-cathedral,
diocesan bishops are to celebrate Holy Mass as
the solemn opening of the Jubilee Year, using
the ritual indications that will be provided for
that occasion. For celebrations in
co-cathedrals, the bishop’s place can be taken
by a suitably designated delegate. A pilgrimage
that sets out from a church chosen for the
collectio and then proceeds to the cathedral can
serve to symbolize the journey of hope that,
illumined by the word of God, unites all the
faithful. In the course of this pilgrimage,
passages from the present Document can be read,
along with the announcement of the Jubilee
Indulgence to be gained in accordance with the
prescriptions found in the ritual indications
mentioned above. The Holy Year will conclude in
the particular Churches on Sunday, 28 December
2025; in the course of the year, every effort
should be made to enable the People of God to
participate fully in its proclamation of hope in
God’s grace and in the signs that attest to its
efficacy.
The Ordinary Jubilee will conclude with the
closing of the Holy Door in the Papal Basilica
of Saint Peter in the Vatican on 6 January 2026,
the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord.
During the Holy Year, may the light of Christian
hope illumine every man and woman, as a message
of God’s love addressed to all! And may the
Church bear faithful witness to this message in
every part of the world!
Signs of hope
7. In addition to finding hope in God’s grace,
we are also called to discover hope in the signs
of the times that the Lord gives us. As the
Second Vatican Council observed: “In every age,
the Church has the responsibility of reading the
signs of the times and interpreting them in the
light of the Gospel. In this way, in language
adapted to every generation, she can respond to
people’s persistent questions about the meaning
of this present life and of the life to come,
and how one is related to the other”. [4] We
need to recognize the immense goodness present
in our world, lest we be tempted to think
ourselves overwhelmed by evil and violence. The
signs of the times, which include the yearning
of human hearts in need of God’s saving
presence, ought to become signs of hope.
8. The first sign of hope should be the desire
for peace in our world, which once more finds
itself immersed in the tragedy of war. Heedless
of the horrors of the past, humanity is
confronting yet another ordeal, as many peoples
are prey to brutality and violence. What does
the future hold for those peoples, who have
already endured so much? How is it possible that
their desperate plea for help is not motivating
world leaders to resolve the numerous regional
conflicts in view of their possible consequences
at the global level? Is it too much to dream
that arms can fall silent and cease to rain down
destruction and death? May the Jubilee remind us
that those who are peacemakers will be called
“children of God” (Mt 5:9). The need for peace
challenges us all, and demands that concrete
steps be taken. May diplomacy be tireless in its
commitment to seek, with courage and creativity,
every opportunity to undertake negotiations
aimed at a lasting peace.
9. Looking to the future with hope also entails
having enthusiasm for life and a readiness to
share it. Sadly, in many situations this is
lacking. A first effect of this is the loss of
the desire to transmit life. A number of
countries are experiencing an alarming decline
in the birthrate as a result of today’s frenetic
pace, fears about the future, the lack of job
security and adequate social policies, and
social models whose agenda is dictated by the
quest for profit rather than concern for
relationships. In certain quarters, the tendency
“to blame population growth, instead of extreme
and selective consumerism on the part of some,
is one way of refusing to face the [real]
issues”. [5]
Openness to life and responsible parenthood is
the design that the Creator has implanted in the
hearts and bodies of men and women, a mission
that the Lord has entrusted to spouses and to
their love. It is urgent that responsible
legislation on the part of states be accompanied
by the firm support of communities of believers
and the entire civil community in all its
components. For the desire of young people to
give birth to new sons and daughters as a sign
of the fruitfulness of their love ensures a
future for every society. This is a matter of
hope: it is born of hope and it generates hope.
Consequently, the Christian community should be
at the forefront in pointing out the need for a
social covenant to support and foster hope, one
that is inclusive and not ideological, working
for a future filled with the laughter of babies
and children, in order to fill the empty cradles
in so many parts of our world. All of us,
however, need to recover the joy of living,
since men and women, created in the image and
likeness of God (cf. Gen 1:26), cannot rest
content with getting along one day at a time,
settling for the here and now and seeking
fulfilment in material realities alone. This
leads to a narrow individualism and the loss of
hope; it gives rise to a sadness that lodges in
the heart and brings forth fruits of discontent
and intolerance.
10. During the Holy Year, we are called to be
tangible signs of hope for those of our brothers
and sisters who experience hardships of any
kind. I think of prisoners who, deprived of
their freedom, daily feel the harshness of
detention and its restrictions, lack of
affection and, in more than a few cases, lack of
respect for their persons. I propose that in
this Jubilee Year governments undertake
initiatives aimed at restoring hope; forms of
amnesty or pardon meant to help individuals
regain confidence in themselves and in society;
and programmes of reintegration in the
community, including a concrete commitment to
respect for law.
This is an ancient appeal, one drawn from the
word of God, whose wisdom remains ever timely.
It calls for acts of clemency and liberation
that enable new beginnings: “You shall hallow
the fiftieth year and you shall proclaim liberty
throughout the land to all its inhabitants” (
Lev 25:10). This institution of the Mosaic law
was later taken up by the prophet Isaiah: “The
Lord has sent me to bring good news to the
oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to
proclaim liberty to the captives and release to
the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the
Lord’s favour” ( Is 61:1-2). Jesus made those
words his own at the beginning of his ministry,
presenting himself as the fulfilment of the
“year of the Lord’s favour” (cf. Lk 4:18-19). In
every part of the world, believers, and their
Pastors in particular, should be one in
demanding dignified conditions for those in
prison, respect for their human rights and above
all the abolition of the death penalty, a
provision at odds with Christian faith and one
that eliminates all hope of forgiveness and
rehabilitation. [6] In order to offer prisoners
a concrete sign of closeness, I would myself
like to open a Holy Door in a prison, as a sign
inviting prisoners to look to the future with
hope and a renewed sense of confidence.
11. Signs of hope should also be shown to the
sick, at home or in hospital. Their sufferings
can be allayed by the closeness and affection of
those who visit them. Works of mercy are also
works of hope that give rise to immense
gratitude. Gratitude should likewise be shown to
all those healthcare workers who, often in
precarious conditions, carry out their mission
with constant care and concern for the sick and
for those who are most vulnerable.
Inclusive attention should also be given to all
those in particularly difficult situations, who
experience their own weaknesses and limitations,
especially those affected by illnesses or
disabilities that severely restrict their
personal independence and freedom. Care given to
them is a hymn to human dignity, a song of hope
that calls for the choral participation of
society as a whole.
12. Signs of hope are also needed by those who
are the very embodiment of hope, namely, the
young. Sadly, they often see their dreams and
aspirations frustrated. We must not disappoint
them, for the future depends on their
enthusiasm. It is gratifying to see the energy
they demonstrate, for example, by rolling up
their sleeves and volunteering to help when
disasters strike and people are in need. Yet it
is sad to see young people who are without hope,
who face an uncertain and unpromising future,
who lack employment or job security, or
realistic prospects after finishing school.
Without the hope that their dreams can come
true, they will inevitably grow discouraged and
listless. Escaping into drugs, risk-taking and
the pursuit of momentary pleasure does greater
harm to them in particular, since it closes them
to life’s beauty and richness, and can lead to
depression and even self-destructive actions.
For this reason, the Jubilee should inspire the
Church to make greater efforts to reach out to
them. With renewed passion, let us demonstrate
care and concern for adolescents, students and
young couples, the rising generation. Let us
draw close to the young, for they are the joy
and hope of the Church and of the world!
13. Signs of hope should also be present for
migrants who leave their homelands behind in
search of a better life for themselves and for
their families. Their expectations must not be
frustrated by prejudice and rejection. A spirit
of welcome, which embraces everyone with respect
for his or her dignity, should be accompanied by
a sense of responsibility, lest anyone be denied
the right to a dignified existence. Exiles,
displaced persons and refugees, whom
international tensions force to emigrate in
order to avoid war, violence and discrimination,
ought to be guaranteed security and access to
employment and education, the means they need to
find their place in a new social context.
May the Christian community always be prepared
to defend the rights of those who are most
vulnerable, opening wide its doors to welcome
them, lest anyone ever be robbed of the hope of
a better future. May the Lord’s words in the
great parable of the Last Judgement always find
an echo in our hearts: “I was a stranger and you
welcomed me” for “just as you did it to one of
the least of these my brothers and sisters, you
did it to me” (Mt 25:35.40).
14. The elderly, who frequently feel lonely and
abandoned, also deserve signs of hope. Esteem
for the treasure that they are, their life
experiences, their accumulated wisdom and the
contribution that they can still make, is
incumbent on the Christian community and civil
society, which are called to cooperate in
strengthening the covenant between generations.
Here I would also mention grandparents, who
represent the passing on of faith and wisdom to
the younger generation. May they find support in
the gratitude of their children and the love of
their grandchildren, who discover in them their
roots and a source of understanding and
encouragement.
15. I ask with all my heart that hope be granted
to the billions of the poor, who often lack the
essentials of life. Before the constant tide of
new forms of impoverishment, we can easily grow
inured and resigned. Yet we must not close our
eyes to the dramatic situations that we now
encounter all around us, not only in certain
parts of the world. Each day we meet people who
are poor or impoverished; they may even be our
next-door neighbours. Often they are homeless or
lack sufficient food for the day. They suffer
from exclusion and indifference on the part of
many. It is scandalous that in a world possessed
of immense resources, destined largely to
producing weapons, the poor continue to be “the
majority of the planet’s population, billions of
people. These days they are mentioned in
international political and economic
discussions, but one often has the impression
that their problems are brought up as an
afterthought, a question which gets added almost
out of duty or in a tangential way, if not
treated merely as collateral damage. Indeed,
when all is said and done, they frequently
remain at the bottom of the pile”. [7] Let us
not forget: the poor are almost always the
victims, not the ones to blame.
Appeals for hope
16. Echoing the age-old message of the prophets,
the Jubilee reminds us that the goods of the
earth are not destined for a privileged few, but
for everyone. The rich must be generous and not
avert their eyes from the faces of their
brothers and sisters in need. Here I think
especially of those who lack water and food:
hunger is a scandal, an open wound on the body
of our humanity, and it summons all of us to a
serious examination of conscience. I renew my
appeal that “with the money spent on weapons and
other military expenditures, let us establish a
global fund that can finally put an end to
hunger and favour development in the most
impoverished countries, so that their citizens
will not resort to violent or illusory
situations, or have to leave their countries in
order to seek a more dignified life”. [8]
Another heartfelt appeal that I would make in
light of the coming Jubilee is directed to the
more affluent nations. I ask that they
acknowledge the gravity of so many of their past
decisions and determine to forgive the debts of
countries that will never be able to repay them.
More than a question of generosity, this is a
matter of justice. It is made all the more
serious today by a new form of injustice which
we increasingly recognize, namely, that “a true
‘ecological debt’ exists, particularly between
the global North and South, connected to
commercial imbalances with effects on the
environment and the disproportionate use of
natural resources by certain countries over long
periods of time”. [9] As sacred Scripture
teaches, the earth is the Lord’s and all of us
dwell in it as “aliens and tenants” ( Lev
25:23). If we really wish to prepare a path to
peace in our world, let us commit ourselves to
remedying the remote causes of injustice,
settling unjust and unpayable debts, and feeding
the hungry.
17. The coming Jubilee Year will also coincide
with a significant date for all Christians,
namely, the 1700th anniversary of the
celebration of the first great Ecumenical
Council, that of Nicaea. It is worth noting
that, from apostolic times, bishops have
gathered on various occasions in order to
discuss doctrinal questions and disciplinary
matters. In the first centuries of Christianity,
synods frequently took place in both East and
West, showing the importance of ensuring the
unity of God’s People and the faithful
proclamation of the Gospel. The Jubilee can
serve as an important occasion for giving
concrete expression to this form of synodality,
which the Christian community today considers
increasingly necessary for responding to the
urgent need for evangelization. All the
baptized, with their respective charisms and
ministries, are co-responsible for ensuring that
manifold signs of hope bear witness to God’s
presence in the world.
The Council of Nicaea sought to preserve the
Church’s unity, which was seriously threatened
by the denial of the full divinity of Jesus
Christ and hence his consubstantiality with the
Father. Some three hundred bishops took part,
convoked at the behest of the Emperor
Constantine; their first meeting took place in
the Imperial Palace on 20 May 325. After various
debates, by the grace of the Spirit they
unanimously approved the Creed that we still
recite each Sunday at the celebration of the
Eucharist. The Council Fathers chose to begin
that Creed by using for the first time the
expression “ We believe”, [10] as a sign that
all the Churches were in communion and that all
Christians professed the same faith.
The Council of Nicaea was a milestone in the
Church’s history. The celebration of its
anniversary invites Christians to join in a hymn
of praise and thanksgiving to the Blessed
Trinity and in particular to Jesus Christ, the
Son of God, “consubstantial with the Father”,
[11] who revealed to us that mystery of love. At
the same time, Nicaea represents a summons to
all Churches and Ecclesial Communities to
persevere on the path to visible unity and in
the quest of fitting ways to respond fully to
the prayer of Jesus “that they may all be one.
As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may
they also be in us, so that the world may
believe that you have sent me” ( Jn 17:21).
The Council of Nicaea also discussed the date of
Easter. To this day, different approaches to
this question prevent celebrating the
fundamental event of our faith on the same day.
Providentially, a common celebration will take
place in the year 2025. May this serve as an
appeal to all Christians, East and West, to take
a decisive step forward towards unity around a
common date for Easter. We do well to remind
ourselves that many people, unaware of the
controversies of the past, fail to understand
how divisions in this regard can continue to
exist.
Anchored in hope
18. Hope, together with faith and charity, makes
up the triptych of the “theological virtues”
that express the heart of the Christian life
(cf. 1 Cor 13:13; 1 Thess 1:3). In their
inseparable unity, hope is the virtue that, so
to speak, gives inward direction and purpose to
the life of believers. For this reason, the
Apostle Paul encourages us to “rejoice in hope,
be patient in suffering, and persevere in
prayer” (Rom 12:12). Surely we need to “abound
in hope” (cf. Rom 15:13), so that we may bear
credible and attractive witness to the faith and
love that dwell in our hearts; that our faith
may be joyful and our charity enthusiastic; and
that each of us may be able to offer a smile, a
small gesture of friendship, a kind look, a
ready ear, a good deed, in the knowledge that,
in the Spirit of Jesus, these can become, for
those who receive them, rich seeds of hope. Yet
what is the basis of our hope? To understand
this, let us stop and reflect on “the reasons
for our hope” (cf. 1 Pet 3:15).
19. “I believe in life everlasting”. [12] So our
faith professes. Christian hope finds in these
words an essential foundation. For hope is “that
theological virtue by which we desire… eternal
life as our happiness”. [13] The Second Vatican
Council says of hope that, “when people are
deprived of this divine support, and lack hope
in eternal life, their dignity is deeply
impaired, as may so often be seen today. The
problems of life and death, of guilt and
suffering, remain unsolved, so that people are
frequently thrown into despair”. [14] We,
however, by virtue of the hope in which we were
saved, can view the passage of time with the
certainty that the history of humanity and our
own individual history are not doomed to a dead
end or a dark abyss, but directed to an
encounter with the Lord of glory. As a result,
we live our lives in expectation of his return
and in the hope of living forever in him. In
this spirit, we make our own the heartfelt
prayer of the first Christians with which sacred
Scripture ends: “Come, Lord Jesus!” ( Rev
22:20).
20. The death and resurrection of Jesus is the
heart of our faith and the basis of our hope.
Saint Paul states this succinctly by the use of
four verbs: “I handed on to you as of first
importance what I in turn had received, that
Christ died for our sins in accordance with the
Scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he
was raised on the third day in accordance with
the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas
and then to the twelve” ( 1 Cor 15:3-5). Christ
died, was buried, was raised and appeared. For
our sake, Jesus experienced the drama of death.
The Father’s love raised him in the power of the
Spirit, and made of his humanity the first
fruits of our eternal salvation. Christian hope
consists precisely in this: that in facing
death, which appears to be the end of
everything, we have the certainty that, thanks
to the grace of Christ imparted to us in
Baptism, “life is changed, not ended”, [15]
forever. Buried with Christ in Baptism, we
receive in his resurrection the gift of a new
life that breaks down the walls of death, making
it a passage to eternity.
The reality of death, as a painful separation
from those dearest to us, cannot be mitigated by
empty rhetoric. The Jubilee, however, offers us
the opportunity to appreciate anew, and with
immense gratitude, the gift of the new life that
we have received in Baptism, a life capable of
transfiguring death’s drama. It is worth
reflecting, in the context of the Jubilee, on
how that mystery has been understood from the
earliest centuries of the Church’s life. An
example would be the tradition of building
baptismal fonts in the shape of an octagon, as
seen in many ancient baptisteries, like that of
Saint John Lateran in Rome. This was intended to
symbolize that Baptism is the dawn of the
“eighth day”, the day of the resurrection, a day
that transcends the normal, weekly passage of
time, opening it to the dimension of eternity
and to life everlasting: the goal to which we
tend on our earthly pilgrimage (cf. Rom 6:22).
The most convincing testimony to this hope is
provided by the martyrs. Steadfast in their
faith in the risen Christ, they renounced life
itself here below, rather than betray their
Lord. Martyrs, as confessors of the life that
knows no end, are present and numerous in every
age, and perhaps even more so in our own day. We
need to treasure their testimony, in order to
confirm our hope and allow it to bear good
fruit.
The martyrs, coming as they do from different
Christian traditions, are also seeds of unity,
expressions of the ecumenism of blood. I greatly
hope that the Jubilee will also include
ecumenical celebrations as a way of highlighting
the richness of the testimony of these martyrs.
21. What, then, will become of us after death?
With Jesus, beyond this threshold we will find
eternal life, consisting in full communion with
God as we forever contemplate and share in his
infinite love. All that we now experience in
hope, we shall then see in reality. We are
reminded of the words of Saint Augustine: “When
I am one with you in all my being, there will be
no more pain and toil; my life shall be true
life, a life wholly filled by you”. [16] What
will characterize this fullness of communion?
Being happy. Happiness is our human vocation, a
goal to which all aspire.
But what is happiness? What is the happiness
that we await and desire? Not some fleeting
pleasure, a momentary satisfaction that, once
experienced, keeps us longing for more, in a
desperate quest that leaves our hearts unsated
and increasingly empty. We aspire to a happiness
that is definitively found in the one thing that
can bring us fulfilment, which is love. Thus, we
will be able to say even now: I am loved,
therefore I exist; and I will live forever in
the love that does not disappoint, the love from
which nothing can ever separate me. Let us
listen once more to the words of the Apostle: “I
am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor
angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor
things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor
depth, nor anything else in all creation, will
be able to separate us from the love of God in
Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 8:38-39).
22. Another reality having to do with eternal
life is God’s judgement, both at the end of our
individual lives and at the end of history.
Artists have often attempted to portray it –
here we can think of Michelangelo’s magnum opus
in the Sistine Chapel – in accordance with the
theological vision of their times and with the
aim of inspiring a sense of awe in the viewer.
We should indeed prepare ourselves consciously
and soberly for the moment when our lives will
be judged, but we must always do this from the
standpoint of hope, the theological virtue that
sustains our lives and shields them from
groundless fear. The judgement of God, who is
love (cf. 1 Jn 4:8.16), will surely be based on
love, and in particular on all that we have done
or failed to do with regard to those in need, in
whose midst Christ, the Judge himself, is
present (cf. Mt 25:31-46). Clearly, then, we are
speaking of a judgement unlike any handed down
by human, earthly tribunals; it should be
understood as a rapport of truth with the God
who is love and with oneself, within the
unfathomable mystery of divine mercy. Sacred
Scripture states: “You have taught your people
that the righteous must be kind, and you have
filled your children with good hope, because you
give repentance for sins, so that… when we are
judged, we may expect mercy” ( Wis 12:19.22). In
the words of Benedict XVI: “At the moment of
judgement we experience and we absorb the
overwhelming power of his love over all the evil
in the world and in ourselves. The pain of love
becomes our salvation and our joy”. [17]
Judgement, then, concerns the salvation in which
we hope and which Jesus has won for us by his
death and resurrection. It is meant to bring us
to a definitive encounter with the Lord. The
evil we have done cannot remain hidden; it needs
to be purified in order to enable this
definitive encounter with God’s love. Here we
begin to see the need of our prayers for all
those who have ended their earthly pilgrimage,
our solidarity in an intercession that is
effective by virtue of the communion of the
saints, and the shared bond that makes us one in
Christ, the firstborn of all creation. The
Jubilee indulgence, thanks to the power of
prayer, is intended in a particular way for
those who have gone before us, so that they may
obtain full mercy.
23. Indeed, the indulgence is a way of
discovering the unlimited nature of God’s mercy.
Not by chance, for the ancients, the terms
“mercy” and “indulgence” were interchangeable,
as expressions of the fullness of God’s
forgiveness, which knows no bounds.
The sacrament of Penance assures us that God
wipes away our sins. We experience those
powerful and comforting words of the Psalm: “It
is he who forgives all your guilt, who heals
every one of your ills, who redeems your life
from the grave, who crowns you with love and
compassion… The Lord is compassion and love,
slow to anger and rich in mercy… He does not
treat us according to our sins, nor repay us
according to our faults. For as the heavens are
high above the earth, so strong is his love for
those who fear him. As far as the east is from
the west, so far does he remove our sins” (Ps
103:3-4.8.10-12). The sacrament of
Reconciliation is not only a magnificent
spiritual gift, but also a decisive, essential
and fundamental step on our journey of faith.
There, we allow the Lord to erase our sins, to
heal our hearts, to raise us up, to embrace us
and to reveal to us his tender and compassionate
countenance. There is no better way to know God
than to let him reconcile us to himself (cf. 2
Cor 5:20) and savour his forgiveness. Let us not
neglect Confession, but rediscover the beauty of
this sacrament of healing and joy, the beauty of
God’s forgiveness of our sins!
Still, as we know from personal experience,
every sin “leaves its mark”. Sin has
consequences, not only outwardly in the effects
of the wrong we do, but also inwardly, inasmuch
as “every sin, even venial, entails an unhealthy
attachment to creatures, which must be purified
either here on earth, or after death, in the
state called Purgatory”. [18] In our humanity,
weak and attracted by evil, certain residual
effects of sin remain. These are removed by the
indulgence, always by the grace of Christ, who,
as Saint Paul VI wrote, “is himself our
‘indulgence’”. [19] The Apostolic Penitentiary
will issue norms for obtaining and rendering
spiritually fruitful the practice of the Jubilee
indulgence.
This experience of full forgiveness cannot fail
to open our hearts and minds to the need to
forgive others in turn. Forgiveness does not
change the past; it cannot change what happened
in the past, yet it can allow us to change the
future and to live different lives, free of
anger, animosity and vindictiveness. Forgiveness
makes possible a brighter future, which enables
us to look at the past with different eyes, now
more serene, albeit still bearing the trace of
past tears.
For the last Extraordinary Jubilee, I
commissioned Missionaries of Mercy, and these
continue to carry out an important mission.
During the coming Jubilee, may they exercise
their ministry by reviving hope and offering
forgiveness whenever a sinner comes to them with
an open heart and a penitent spirit. May they
remain a source of reconciliation and an
encouragement to look to the future with
heartfelt hope inspired by the Father’s mercy. I
encourage bishops to take advantage of their
precious ministry, especially by sending them
wherever hope is sorely tested: to prisons,
hospitals, and places where people’s dignity is
violated, poverty abounds and social decay is
prevalent. In this Jubilee Year, may no one be
deprived of the opportunity to receive God’s
forgiveness and consolation.
24. Hope finds its supreme witness in the Mother
of God. In the Blessed Virgin, we see that hope
is not naive optimism but a gift of grace amid
the realities of life. Like every mother,
whenever Mary looked at her Son, she thought of
his future. Surely she kept pondering in her
heart the words spoken to her in the Temple by
the elderly Simeon: “This child is destined for
the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to
be a sign that will be opposed, so that the
inner thoughts of many will be revealed – and a
sword will pierce your own soul too” (Lk
2:34-35). At the foot of the cross, she
witnessed the passion and death of Jesus, her
innocent son. Overwhelmed with grief, she
nonetheless renewed her “fiat”, never abandoning
her hope and trust in God. In this way, Mary
cooperated for our sake in the fulfilment of all
that her Son had foretold in announcing that he
would have to “undergo great suffering, and be
rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and
the scribes, and be killed, and after three days
rise again” (Mk 8:31). In the travail of that
sorrow, offered in love, Mary became our Mother,
the Mother of Hope. It is not by chance that
popular piety continues to invoke the Blessed
Virgin as Stella Maris, a title that bespeaks
the sure hope that, amid the tempests of this
life, the Mother of God comes to our aid,
sustains us and encourages us to persevere in
hope and trust.
In this regard, I would note that the Shrine of
Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City is
preparing to celebrate, in 2031, the fifth
centenary of Our Lady’s first apparition.
Through Juan Diego, the Mother of God brought a
revolutionary message of hope that she continues
to bring to every pilgrim and all the faithful:
“Am I not here, who am your Mother?” [20] That
message continues to touch hearts in the many
Marian shrines throughout the world, where
countless pilgrims commend to the holy Mother of
God their cares, their sorrows and their hopes.
During the Jubilee Year, may these shrines be
sacred places of welcome and privileged spaces
for the rebirth of hope. I encourage all
pilgrims to Rome to spend time in prayer in the
Marian shrines of the City, in order to venerate
the Blessed Mother and to implore her
protection. I am confident that everyone,
especially the suffering and those most in need,
will come to know the closeness of Mary, the
most affectionate of mothers, who never abandons
her children and who, for the holy people of
God, is “a sign of certain hope and comfort”.
[21]
25. In our journey towards the Jubilee, let us
return to Scripture and realize that it speaks
to us in these words: “May we who have taken
refuge in him be strongly encouraged to seize
the hope set before us. We have this hope, a
sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope
that enters the inner shrine behind the curtain,
where Jesus, a forerunner on our behalf, has
entered” (Heb 6:18-20). Those words are a
forceful encouragement for us never to lose the
hope we have been given, to hold fast to that
hope and to find in God our refuge and our
strength.
The image of the anchor is eloquent; it helps us
to recognize the stability and security that is
ours amid the troubled waters of this life,
provided we entrust ourselves to the Lord Jesus.
The storms that buffet us will never prevail,
for we are firmly anchored in the hope born of
grace, which enables us to live in Christ and to
overcome sin, fear and death. This hope, which
transcends life’s fleeting pleasures and the
achievement of our immediate goals, makes us
rise above our trials and difficulties, and
inspires us to keep pressing forward, never
losing sight of the grandeur of the heavenly
goal to which we have been called.
The coming Jubilee will thus be a Holy Year
marked by the hope that does not fade, our hope
in God. May it help us to recover the confident
trust that we require, in the Church and in
society, in our interpersonal relationships, in
international relations, and in our task of
promoting the dignity of all persons and respect
for God’s gift of creation. May the witness of
believers be for our world a leaven of authentic
hope, a harbinger of new heavens and a new earth
(cf. 2 Pet 3:13), where men and women will dwell
in justice and harmony, in joyful expectation of
the fulfilment of the Lord’s promises.
Let us even now be drawn to this hope! Through
our witness, may hope spread to all those who
anxiously seek it. May the way we live our lives
say to them in so many words: “Hope in the Lord!
Hold firm, take heart and hope in the Lord!” (Ps
27:14). May the power of hope fill our days, as
we await with confidence the coming of the Lord
Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and glory, now
and forever.
Given in Rome, at Saint John Lateran, on 9 May,
the Solemnity of the Ascension of our Lord Jesus
Christ, in the year 2024, the twelfth of my
Pontificate.
FRANCIS
________________________________
[1] Serm. 198 augm. 2.
[2] Cf. Fonti Francescane, No. 263, 6.10.
[3] Cf. Bull of Indiction of the Extraordinary
Jubilee of Mercy Misericordiae Vultus, 1-3.
[4] Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 4.
[5] Encyclical Letter Laudato Si’, 50.
[6] Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, No.
2267.
[7] Encyclical Letter Laudato Si’, 49
[8] Encyclical Letter Fratelli Tutti, 262.
[9] Encyclical Letter Laudato Si’, 51.
[10] Nicene Creed: H. DENZINGER-A. SCHÖNMETZER,
Enchiridion symbolorum definitionum et
declarationum de rebus fidei et morum, 125.
[11] Ibid.
[12] Apostles’ Creed: H. DENZINGER-A.
SCHÖNMETZER, Enchiridion symbolorum definitionum
et declarationum de rebus fidei et morum, 30.
[13] Catechism of the Catholic Church, No. 1817.
[14] Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 21.
[15] ROMAN MISSAL , Preface I for the Dead.
[16] Confessions, X, 28.
[17] Encyclical Letter Spe Salvi, 47.
[18] Catechism of the Catholic Church, No. 1472.
[19] Apostolic Letter Apostolorum Limina, 23 May
1974, II.
[20] Nican Mopohua, No. 119.
[21] SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Dogmatic
Constitution Lumen Gentium, 68.
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