Expanding My Faith: Weekly Column

Send questions to: DRE@saintcolumbachurch.org and place “Q’s Pews” in the subject line. All questions are answered and kept confidential. If your question is used in the column, it will remain anonymous. James Gregory, DRE

“Fide quaerens Intellectum”

“Always be prepared to make a defense … for the hope that is in you … with gentleness and reverence” (1 Peter 3:15)

“Q’s from the Pews”

What is a Jubilee Year?

On December 29, as he opened the doors of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, wherePope Francis formally inaugurated the Jubilee year of 2025. The Catholic Jubilee Year is not the same as the celebration of momentous anniversaries, seen in religious communities and monarchies The modern Catholic Jubilee traces its history to 1300AD. In that year Pope Boniface VII issued a papal bull Antiquorum Habet Fida Relatio (“The Ancients Have a Reliable Account”) declaring a Jubilee Year every 100 years since the birth of Christ. As the bull suggests, this was not new, but a return to an ancient custom. Leviticus decrees that “every 50 years should be a Jubilee year,” during which “all debts are forgiven, to set aside wrongs and proclaim justice.” (see Lev 25: 8-47). Boniface VII reinstituted this ancient custom through the lens of Christianity. In 1343, Pope Clement VI reduced the gap to every 50 years, and in 1470, Pope Paul II introduced the modern practice of Jubilees every 25 years. This has remained the standard ever since. During the Jubilee, special remission of sins would be granted through indulgences. Indulgence (a word which means “to grant mercy”) was granted by Papal authority for acts of piety and mercy performed during the Jubilee year. Over the centuries the Jubilee has been used by Popes to focus the entire Church’s prayer on one goal. Jubilee 2025’s theme, “Pilgrims of Hope” focuses us on the hope we have through Christ. Over the next few weeks, we will look deeper at Jubilee 2025.Here is the Diocesan page on the Jubilee, with local pilgrimage sites and more. Next week: Understanding indulgences.

Send questions to: DRE@saintcolumbachurch.org and place “Q’s Pews” in the subject. All questions are answered and kept confidential. If used in the column, your question will remain anonymous.

Catholic Challenge for January

Gaze up at the stars at night, and meditate on who God is with this passage: “…and he made the stars also.” Gen 1:16b

Totally Catholic Trivia

Cardinal Benedict Caetani became Pope Boniface VII after Pope Saint Celestine V abdicated the papacy to spend his time as a contemplative monk founding the Celestine Order.