One of the most significant features of a Jubilee Year in the Catholic tradition is the Pilgrimage.
For centuries, the practice of pilgrimage has allowed Christians to respond to a stirring in their hearts, stepping forward and making a journey in hope of an encounter with the Lord. The Latin root of the word hints at crossing boundaries and walking across distances… but it is more than physical space that is crossed. On a pilgrimage, the interior part of the person is also changed through encounters: encounters with their travel companions, encounters with Jesus Christ.
Pilgrimages to places of grace are a gift given through the Church as a way of using the physical to impart the spiritual – the Holy Doors at St Peter’s Basilica, and many other special locations across the world, will be pilgrimage sites for the Jubilee Year of Hope in 2025. We are called to take up our mat and to walk like paralytic beside the pool of Bethesda, John 5:8. Notice that to decide to walk, to set out, is a response to a call from the Lord! In our own lives, that call may be as gentle as a desire to go and see a special place.
Gain a Jubilee Indulgence on Pilgrimage
On 13th May 2024, the Vatican issued a decree outlining how to obtain a Jubilee Indulgence.
The Vatican Jubilee website provides this very simple explanation of the benefits of marvelous gift of the Indulgence:
“The Jubilee Indulgence is a concrete manifestation of God’s mercy, which goes beyond and transforms the boundaries of human justice. This treasury of grace entered human history in the witness of Jesus and the saints, and by living in communion with them our hope for our own forgiveness is strengthened and becomes a certainty. The Jubilee indulgence allows us to free our hearts from the weight of sin because the reparation due for our sins is given freely and abundantly.”
Click here for a clear guide on how to gain Jubilee Indulgences.
Pilgrimage Option 1:
Travel to Rome & Assisi with Us!
The Diocese of Broken Bay have partnered with Harvest Journeys to plan a pilgrimage to the Holy Doors from 1st October 2025 to 10th October 2025, coinciding with celebrations in Rome for the Jubilee of Consecrated Life. More information will be made available soon – check back in February!
If the October timing doesn’t work for you, the Chatswood Parish are running an additional pilgrimage to Rome and Assisi in November. There is a link to more information on the Chatswood Shrine of Hope page (scroll down to Upcoming Events).
Pilgrimage Option 2:
Local Pilgrimages
Not all of us will be able to get to the Holy Doors in Vatican City, and so we have local pilgrimage sites as well, to make a pilgrimage possible for every family, couple or individual circumstance.
In the Diocese of Broken Bay, in addition to our Cathedral Parish, we have 3 shrines with different prayer intentions attached, and with different patron saints to invoke. We have produced a Pilgrim Passport for those of you who wish to pilgrimage to all of the Shrines of Hope throughout the Jubilee Year –find out how to get yours!
- The Shrine of Hope for Families
at Gosford Parish, under the patronage of St John Paul II - The Shrine of Hope for the Youth
at Chatswood Parish, under the patronage of Bl. Carlo Acutis - The Shrine of Hope for Priests
at Manly Freshwater Parish, under the patronage of St John Vianney)
Check out each of the Shrine of Hope pages to find out more about what is happening at each Shrine!
