Masses to open Jubilee year in Archdiocese

A chasuble featuring the official logo for the Holy Year 2025 is seen on display at the International Religious Products and Services Exhibition in Bologna, Italy, Feb. 13, 2024. (CNS photo/Justin McLellan)

HOUSTON — As the Universal Church looks toward the Jubilee Year 2025, the 2,025th anniversary of the Incarnation of Our Lord, the Archdiocese is preparing for what Pope Francis calls an “event of great spiritual, ecclesial and social significance in the life of the Church.”

In Galveston-Houston, Daniel Cardinal DiNardo will celebrate a “Jubilee of Hope” Opening Mass on Sunday, Dec. 29 at 11 a.m. at the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Houston. Also, on Dec. 29, Auxiliary Bishop Italo Dell’Oro, CRS, will celebrate another “Jubilee of Hope” Opening Mass at 12:30 p.m. at St. Mary Cathedral Basilica in Galveston.

“We must fan the flame of hope that has been given us and help everyone to gain new strength and certainty by looking to the future with an open spirit, a trusting heart and far-sighted vision,” wrote Pope Francis wrote in his February 2022 letter announcing the Jubilee 2025. “The forthcoming Jubilee can contribute greatly to restoring a climate of hope and trust as a prelude to the renewal and rebirth that we so urgently desire.”

The Jubilee Year will offer the faithful opportunities to participate in various jubilee events at the Vatican and in the Archdiocese. The great tradition of opening the Holy Door will begin when Pope Francis opens the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica on Dec. 24. Other holy doors will be opened at the Rome basilicas of St. John Lateran, St. Mary Major and St. Paul Outside the Walls.

The two cathedrals remain pilgrimage sites for Catholics in and visiting the Archdiocese.

For pilgrims who cannot travel to Rome, bishops around the world are expected to designate their cathedrals or popular Catholic shrines as special places of prayer for Holy Year pilgrims, offering opportunities for reconciliation, indulgences and other events intended to strengthen and revive faith.

To learn more about the Jubilee, see Page 7 and visit www.archgh.org/jubilee2025.