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- Papal Jubilee Year 2025
Welcome to the Phil~Italy Cultural Newsletter. We will be publishing bi-weekly and exploring the food, culture, music, art, architecture, natural beauty and history of our beloved Italy.
Jubilee in Rome
A papal jubilee, also known as a Holy Year, is a special year of remission of sins and universal pardon in the Catholic Church, typically occurring every 25 years. It is a time of pilgrimage, prayer, and spiritual renewal, during which the faithful are encouraged to seek reconciliation with God and others. The tradition dates back to 1300 when Pope Boniface VIII declared the first Holy Year. During a jubilee, the Pope may grant indulgences, which are reductions of the temporal punishment for sins. The jubilee is marked by various religious events, including the opening of the Holy Door at St. Peter's Basilica and other major basilicas in Rome, symbolizing the offering of an extraordinary path to salvation. Special themes or focuses may be chosen for each jubilee, such as mercy or redemption, to guide the faithful in their spiritual journey.
Jubilee’s have their roots in the Old Testament
God told Moses that every fiftieth year was to be set aside for the return of absent members to their households, the restoration of land to its owners, the release of Hebrew slaves and the forgiveness of debts.
This fiftieth year you shall make sacred by proclaiming liberty in the land for all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, when every one of you shall return to his own property, every one to his own family estate. (Lev. 25:10)
Jubilee 2025: Pilgrims of Hope
Jubilee 2025 was proclaimed by Pope Francis in the Papal Bull Spes Non Confundit (“Hope does not disappoint”).
“The coming Jubilee will thus be a Holy Year marked by the hope that does not fade, our hope in God. May it help us to recover the confident trust that we require, in the Church and in society, in our interpersonal relationships, in international relations, and in our task of promoting the dignity of all persons and respect for God’s gift of creation.” (Pope Francis, Spes Non Confundit 25)
The jubilee will begin in Rome on the vigil of the Lord’s Nativity on Dec. 24, 2024 with the opening of the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica, and in local dioceses on Holy Family Sunday on Dec. 29. It will conclude in local dioceses the following Holy Family Sunday on Dec. 28, 2025, and in Rome on the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord, Jan. 6, 2026, with the closing of the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica.
Hallmarks of the Jubilee
Jubilee Indulgence: Special graces for the forgiveness of the temporal punishment due for sins are made available during the Jubilee Year. The faithful may obtain a plenary indulgence – remission of all temporal punishment (time in Purgatory) for sin– by meeting the normal conditions (confession, Holy Communion, prayer for the pope’s intentions, and no attachment to sin) and by participating in one of the following activities:
Pilgrimages: The four major basilicas in Rome are the main pilgrimage destinations, but pilgrims may also go to the Holy Land, their diocesan cathedral or other officially designated locations.
Pious visits to sacred places: At these locations, the faithful are to engage in Eucharistic adoration and meditation, among other spiritual practices.
Works of mercy and penance: The faithful are to perform the spiritual or corporal works of mercy or carry out works of penance, such as abstaining from meat on Fridays.
Holy Doors: The pope opens the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica at the beginning of each jubilee year. Passing through the holy doors symbolizes the pilgrim’s journey of conversion.
Papal Basilicas: The pope will open the Holy Doors of the four main churches (called “major basilicas”) in Rome: St. Peter’s Basilica, St. John Lateran, St. Mary Major, and St. Paul Outside the Walls.
The 1350 Jubilee was opened by Phil~Italy Collaborator Bob Sorrentino’s 14th great-grandfather, Alessandro Farnese, Pope Paul III.
 Paul III in 1546 with grandsons |  Bob Sorrentino pointing to Paul III’s Tomb |
Who were the first Sicilians?
Sicilian Tribes
It is believed that the first people arrived in Sicily by sea as early as 20,000 BC. Most likely from Western and Central Europe. There were three tribes, the Elymians, the Sicani and the Siculi, from which Sicily gets it’s name. The Siculi were the last to arrive on the island, and were related to the Italic peoples of Southern Italy, most likely the Italoi of Calabria, the Oenotrians, Chones, Leutarni, Opicans and Ausones. Although is is possible that the Sicani were from and Iberian tribe. It is also possible that the Elymi may have origins outside Italy also. Complex urban settlements have become evident around 1300 BC. The Phoenicians began to settle in western Sicily around 1100 BC in present day Palermo and Moyta ( an island near Marsala ). These later became under control of Carthage.
There is some evidence supporting that the Elymians originate from from an Eastern Mediterranean Society, influenced by Phonecians and Assyrians. Around 500 BC, both the Greeks and Carthaginians vied for their loyalty.
It can be verified that humans inhabited Sicily around 10,000 BC. There are cave drawings in Addaura from 8000 BC, Copper tools from 3000 BC and the presence of the Sicilian people in 1600 BC. The most recent studies infer that the Sicians were natives of Sicily. The Sicans assimilated much easier with the Greeks than the other groups.
The Sicels were from the Greek island from Sikeloi. They were an Italic people who arrived on the island between 1200 and 1000 BC. They occupied the region extending from Cape Peloro to the Peloritan and Nebrodi mountains. Some theories suggest that they came from Liguria or Latium. There language shared some characteristics to languages that evolved into Latin.
Ancient Elmian Ruins Segesta Sicily
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