Pope looks to Jubilee Year as an occasion for social rebirth

By Linda Bordoni

"Once again," Pope Francis writes, during the Jubilee Year the eternal city will become the central point from which the Christian message will be beamed to the world, rekindling hope and new impetus for the building of a more fraternal society.

In a message of good wishes to the Roman daily, Il Messaggero, which is marking 145 years since it was established, the Pope focuses on the importance of the upcoming 2025 Jubilee Year which "will closely concern the city of Rome, but which will affect Europe and the whole world.”

The Jubilee is a special year of grace for believers, and the Pope notes it will offer hope, solace and rebirth to the many pilgrims who are expected to travel to Rome for the occasion.

Reconciliation and fraternity

The Holy Year will not be just a "religious practice as an end in itself", he explains, but "a process that stems from individuals and goes on to involve all interpersonal relationships, with the intention of promoting a vision of a more just and fraternal society, in which errors and faults are forgiven,  those who have done wrong are helped to recover and justice is restored, thus favouring reconciliation between parties and the building of a world that is more united and more humane”.  

The significance and value of the Jubilee Year, the Pope continues, is not exclusively religious. In fact, he says,  it is laden with “ethical, moral, social and cultural values that are capable of healing the wounds caused by injustice and various forms of violence.” It brings the strength to “transcend economic inequalities and discrimination and give birth to a collective climate of trust and hope, initiating processes of integral human development, with special attention to those who are most fragile and most vulnerable.”

Liberation in all the anthropological and social aspects the theme implies, inviting the faithful “to undertake actions and paths that are capable of freeing people, cities, nations and people from all forms of slavery and degradation”. 

Truth vs fake news

Concluding his message with a special thought for the Rome newspaper, Pope Francis points out how it continues to represent a point of reference for journalism and information: “A task, yours, that I would like to encourage and promote, especially for its ethical dimension, since we find ourselves in a social and cultural time in which it is becoming increasingly difficult to discern the truth by distinguishing it from fake news”.