Jubilee 2025 | St Bernadette's Cath

Jubilee 2025: Pilgrims of Hope

We are excited to share that this year marks a special Jubilee Year, celebrated by people around the world as a journey of faith, hope, and renewal. Every 25 years, the Catholic Church celebrates a Holy Year of Jubilee, and Pope Francis has called this Jubilee Year ‘Pilgrims of Hope’.

Pope Francis is inviting us all to reflect on our own life journeys and the hope we carry with us along the way. It’s a very special, holy, year of forgiveness and mercy, a time to reset, and to renew our relationship with God, with one another, and with all of creation.

In school, we will celebrate the Jubilee Year with a range of events, which we will share through our newsletter, on X, and here, on the school website.

"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)

What is a pilgrim?

Pilgrims are people who travel to holy places on a journey that helps them grow closer to God. Even if we can’t travel far away, the Jubilee Year will still be a journey for all of us - a journey of hope.

The beginning of the Jubilee Year

The Holy Door, very special door at St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City., was opened by Pope Francis on Christmas Eve to mark the beginning of the Jubilee Year. This is a big event because the Holy Door shows that God is always ready to welcome everyone with love and forgiveness. When the Pope opened it, it’s like a sign that everyone is invited to come closer to God.So, when the Pope opened the Holy Door on Christmas Eve, it reminded us that we can always find hope and love with God, and that He is always there for us, no matter what.

Click on the image below to watch the Holy Door being opened on Christmas Eve 2024.

The Holy Door will be bricked up at the end of the Jubilee Year. For the 2025 Year of Hope, the Holy Door will be closed after the year ends, which will be on 6th January 2026, the feast of the Epiphany of the Lord.

On that date, the Pope will officially close the Holy Door to mark the end of the special time of grace, forgiveness, and pilgrimage. The door will remain sealed until the next Jubilee Year.

Catholic Social Teaching and the Jubilee Year

Pope Francis asks us to be signs of hope for others, by putting Catholic Social Teaching into action through caring for our common home and supporting our sisters and brothers who are experiencing war, hunger or poverty.

The Jubilee Prayer

Friday 10th January

To mark the start of the Jubilee Year, on Friday 10th January, all classes planted a ‘Seed of Hope’. Throughout the year, the children will nurture their seed, reminding us that just as a seed needs sunlight, water, and care to grow, hope grows when we trust in God’s love and share kindness with others.

St. Bernadette’s Jubilee Celebrations

The children in Year 1 and Year 2 create ‘Trees of Hope’. We will reflect on these at the end of the Jubilee year.

Monday 27th January

Pilgrimage of Hope: Refugee Journey

On Monday 27th January, classes in KS2 and Year had the opportunity to take part in a Pilgrimage of Hope, reflecting on the journey of refugees.

Station 1

Packing for a Journey: The children put themselves in a refugee’s shoes and imagined what they would pack if they had to flee their home at short notice.

Station 3

The Long Journey: The children imagined the exhausting and dangerous journey, often across deserts, mountains, and forests, in search of safety.

Station 5

Final Journey: The children reflected on the final stage of a refugee’s journey, where emotions mixed between relief, excitement, and nervousness as they arrived at their new home.

Station 2

Emotional Goodbyes: They thought about the emotional goodbyes that refugees must face as they leave everything behind.

Station 4

Refugee Camps: They paused to consider life in refugee camps, where some refugees wait years before being granted asylum.

Station 6

A New Home: At the final station, they discussed what it might be like to arrive in a foreign land with a new language and culture.

This pilgrimage was linked to the Jubilee Year's theme of Pilgrims of Hope, encouraging us all to walk alongside those who are displaced, offering empathy, support, and a shared journey of hope. It also reminded us to keep our hope in God, trusting that He was with us on every journey, and that with faith, we could bring hope to others.

Watch this video capturing the pilgrims in 4KL.