. . . That every 25 years the Church celebrates a “Jubilee Year” – a special time of grace and renewal for the whole Church?

The Jubilee Year will run from 24 December 2024 to 23 December 2025 and will be marked by the opening and closing of the Holy Door of Saint Peter's Basilica. Rome is preparing for 35 million pilgrims! Our Bishop Weisenburger wrote: “Pope Francis has designated the Jubilee Year of 2025 under the theme of “PILGRIMS in HOPE.” In my case, I find it hard to think of the word “hope” without calling to mind that as a child, my mother taught me when saying the rosary—that before any of the 5 mysteries are prayed, those first three beads with their accompanying “Hail Mary” prayers, are invoked for an increase of Faith, HOPE, and Charity. What I didn’t know at the time is that these three—faith, hope, and charity—are the three THEOLOGICAL VIRTUES of Christianity. And while we speak often of faith (and we should), and while we invoke the call to charity often (which is also fundamental to our faith life) … we probably focus far too little on HOPE. From that perspective, I’m deeply grateful to Pope Francis for giving us this wonderful opportunity!” As you know, the Diocese of Tucson is hosting a Jubilee of Hope Pilgrimage for the Youth of our Diocese. Forty-five young people from across the Diocese have been selected to attend this journey of hope, faith and discernment. Four of our Teens from St. Andrew’s and two from Our Lady of the Mountains, have been invited to participate as Pilgrims from our Diocese! These six Teens are all active in various ministries (one of the qualifications for their selection) and you would likely recognize them as Altar Servers, Lectors, Choir members, and volunteers in our various Youth Ministries: Gabriel Slone, Andrew Ramey, Aiden Fitzpatrick, Ethan Salerno, Lucia Kjolsrud, and Sophia Ramsey! Thanks to your generosity, the cost of the Pilgrimage for our six young people and our Seminarian Carlos Nagore, has been fully funded!!! Thanks to you, these young Catholics will be sharing a once-in-a-lifetime experience with their peers and fellow pilgrims from around the world! Plans are underway for marking the Jubilee here in our Diocese and four Jubilee Pilgrimage sites have been designated for prayer and the special Indulgence of the Jubilee: St. Augustine Cathedral in Tucson, Mission San Xavier del Bac outside of Tucson, Immaculate Conception Church in Yuma, AND our Divine Mercy Chapel at St. Andrew’s in Sierra Vista! (More on this honor later!)

Please check out the Jubilee links on our Diocesan website: diocesetucson.org and join in the excitement of our Jubilee Year!