Bangalore 22 September 2023 (CCBI): The Church in India joins hearts and hands with the Universal Church in the preparations for the Ordinary Jubilee 2025 on the theme ‘Pilgrims of Hope.’ The 35 Council Notebooks assist us in the Year of Learning.
“Our Holy Mother Church is now heading towards the First Session of the Final Phase (Universal Phase) of the Synod for a Synodal Church 2021-2024. We now have another celebration around the corner, Jubilee 2025, an ordinary Jubilee marking 2025 years of Jesus’ birth. Let us integrate the Jubilee 2025 celebrations with our synodal journey,” said His Eminence Filipe Neri Cardinal Ferrão, Archbishop of Goa-Daman, President of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India (CCBI), as he released the 35 Council Notebooks in view of the preparations for the Jubilee 2025 and unveiled the CCBI Roadmap for the Jubilee 2025 preparations and celebrations.
‘Pilgrims of Hope’ is the motto of the celebrations of the ordinary Jubilee 2025. In the letter to Archbishop Rino Fisichella, Pro-prefect Dicastery for Evangelization, Section for Fundamental Questions regarding Evangelization in the World, announcing the preparation for the Jubilee celebrations, our Holy Father Pope Francis underscores the importance of hope in Christian life amidst uncertainties and hardships created by the pandemic and wars. He writes: “we must fan the flame of hope … the forthcoming Jubilee can contribute greatly to restoring a climate of hope and trust … that is why I have chosen as the motto of the Jubilee, ‘Pilgrims of Hope.’”
“The purpose of the Jubilee 2025 is threefold: to celebrate Jesus, to celebrate the Church and to celebrate our faith,” the President of the CCBI reinstated. There are two years of preparation for the Jubilee 2025: (i) 2023 as Year of the Council (Year of Learning); (ii) 2024 as Year of Prayer. The Holy Father wishes that the four Constitutions of the Second Vatican Council be studied to obtain direction and guidance for God’s people.
The Dicastery for Evangelization has brought out 35 booklets giving background information to the Second Vatican Council and to the Four Constitutions on the Word of God, the liturgy, the Church as the people of God, and the Church in the modern world. The Notebooks are translated into English for the world market and distributed by ATC Publishers India and published by the CCBI. The translation of the booklets was a moment of revisiting the history of the Church,.
The Conference of Catholic Bishops of India partakes in the preparations and the celebrations of the Jubilee 2025 integrating them in the synodal journey and the strategic planning which aims at discerning the plan of God for the Church in India.
The Local Churches in India will inaugurate the Preparations of the Jubilee on 26 November 2023, Solemnity of Christ the King, unveiling the Jubilee Logo and initiating people into revisiting the treasures of the Second Vatican Council and revamping prayer. The National Facilitating Team envisions to visit all the 132 Latin dioceses of India enkindling in every faithful the ray of hope.
“At the Jubilee 2025, our Holy Mother Church invites us to be ‘Pilgrims of Hope.’ As we prepare ourselves to enter the Holy Doors in Rome, let us also enter the doors of the places such as hospitals, orphanages, homes for the destitute, prisons, refugee camps, et al, where hope is dim,” Cardinal Ferrão highlighted.
The preparations and the celebrations of the Ordinary Jubilee 2025 are coordinated by Fr. Yesu Karunanidhi, in networking and collaboration with Communio, the Commission for Proclamation and the Commission for Theology and Doctrine.
Rev. Dr. Stephen Alathara
Deputy Secretary General, CCBI