Preparations are well underway for Canadian Catholics to join faithful worldwide as "Pilgrims of Hope" for jubilee year 2025.

The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Archdiocese of Toronto have set in motion on national and local scales celebrations for the jubilee, which only comes around every 25 years. 

The CCCB shared a series of events, resources and initiatives for the 2025 Jubilee Year. Within the Archdiocese of Toronto, coordinator Fr. Tim Hanley has begun to verbalize plans are set to commence Dec. 29 when celebrations officially kick off. 

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Taking place under the theme of Pilgrims of Hope, the 2025 jubilee is a time for Catholics around the globe to become just that. CCCB president Bishop William McGrattan said the jubilee offers “a unique opportunity for renewal and reflection within the local and universal Church, that is inviting all the faithful to walk together on our communal path of faith.” 

Continuous efforts from the CCCB’s Ad hoc Committee for the Preparation of the Jubilee Year have been ongoing for the past two years, with 2024 officially marked a Year of Prayer in anticipation. More recently, the conference has prepared toolkits for adult faith formation, catechetical resources for children and various banners and prayer cards to promote local and national celebrations and serve as a call for spiritual renewal. 

“We are happy to be able to use these resources to help out every bishop, every parish, every pilgrimage organizer who wants to facilitate visits either to Rome or to their own local shrines,” said Bishop Guy Desrochers, Archbishop of Moncton and chair of the jubilee committee. “There are so many special dates approaching in the coming year, and that is a big reason that I am so excited for this jubilee year along with many other Catholics.” 

The celebrations are broken down into six distinct themes, as highlighted by the Papal Bull of Indiction released in May. The themes include a universal call to jubilee, hope rooted in baptism and enlivened by the Holy Spirit, a journey of hope, signs of hope, appeals for hope and anchored in hope. 

One theme in particular stands out to Hanley as it directly relates to a key area of outreach the archdiocese is looking to tackle by putting faith into action. 

“In addition to the spiritual elements and other various gatherings that we are having in Toronto, we are looking at the possibility of a refugee housing initiative here in the archdiocese. The details are still being worked out with the Office of Refugees of the Archdiocese of Toronto as to whether we have any spaces in our facilities to house refugees in accordance with the jubilee year,” he said. 

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Hanley also spoke highly about the significance of the jubilee year’s logo, an often overlooked but vitally poignant reminder of what the time of prayer and hope brings to Catholic lives. 

“The logo is quite expressive, showing four stylized figures representing all of humanity. The anchor present is a symbol of hope that illustrates the pilgrim's journey, not as an individual undertaking, but rather as something communal marked by an increasing dynamism, leading one ever closer to the Cross," he said. “The Cross is not, it's not static, but dynamic. It bends towards humanity, not leaving human beings alone, but stretching out to them, offering the certainty of its presence and the security of hope. The question becomes, how do we live that out in the Archdiocese of Toronto?” 

The answer is varied, with Hanley revealing a multitude of different pilgrimages, initiatives and services set to take place over the course of next year beginning with Dec. 29’s Solemn Opening of the Jubilee Year with Mass celebrated by Archbishop Francis Leo at St. Michael's Cathedral Basilica. 

Certain parishes have been designated as pilgrim churches where regional Masses will be celebrated at some point in the next year by the Auxiliary Bishop of each region. These include Martyrs’ Shrine in Midland, St. Paul’s Basilica, St. Mary’s and St. Edward the Confessor for the central region, Our Lady of Sorrows and St. Mary’s (Brampton) in the west, St. Barnabas and St. Gregory the Great in the east and St. Padre Pio and St. Mary’s (Barrie) in the north. 

“These parishes will become special places of prayer as they host opportunities for confession and the granting of the jubilee indulgence in which the Catholic Church offers the faithful the possibility of asking for a plenary indulgence — that is a remission of sins for themselves and for their deceased relatives,” Hanley said. 

Other activities amplifying the theme of Pilgrims of Hope include a pilgrimage led by Leo to Martyrs’ Shrine for its 100th anniversary in August, a Jubilee Day with Mary at St. Augustine's Seminary on May 31 and Office of Catholic Youth and archdiocesan pilgrimages to Rome on July 23 and Nov. 10 respectively. 

While there will be other celebrations throughout the year with priests, permanent deacons, seminarians, religious and consecrated, Hanley and company hope laypeople follow the instructions of Archbishop Rino Fisichella, Pro-Prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization, who asked all Catholics to fan the flame of hope that has been given us. 

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“We are focusing in a special way on bringing hope into a world that desperately needs it right now with all of the war, conflict and everything else. We welcome a time of renewed prayer for hope that people participating in these special celebrations may bring hope to the world, to their diocese and to their families,” he said. 

More information about the 2025 Jubilee Year events will be rolled out as they approach and can be found at https://www.archtoronto.org/en/offices-and-ministries/sub-sites/year-of-prayer/home/.