Bishop Gregory Parkes has announced a new date for the Diocesan Opening Mass of the Jubilee Year of Hope:  Saturday, January 25, 2025, at 4 p.m., at the Cathedral of St. Jude the Apostle. All are welcome for this solemn celebration!

If you arrive by 3:45, you can join a procession near the main entrance where we will venerate the cross for the Jubilee Year and enter the church together. 

Key Moments Unique to this Celebration:

• Families and individuals will gather outside (on the corner of 5th Avenue and Tyrone Boulevard) for a procession into the church to emphasize their role as Pilgrims of Hope.
• The bishop will read an excerpt from the pope’s official document about the Jubilee Year.
• At the entrance to the Cathedral, the bishop will hold up the Jubilee Year cross for all to see and the faithful will show respect and honor to the cross.
• The bishop will lead the Pilgrims of Hope into the Cathedral, and the bishop will celebrate the opening Mass for the Jubilee Year.

Pope Francis proclaimed 2025 a Jubilee Year with the theme, Pilgrims of Hope. In line with ancient tradition, the Catholic Church proclaims a Jubilee every 25 years to increase opportunities to experience God’s grace. The pope inaugurated the Jubilee Year at the Vatican on December 24, 2024, with the opening of the Holy Door of Mercy at St. Peter’s Basilica. The Holy Door symbolizes the spiritual journey from sin to grace. The Jubilee will conclude on January 6, 2026. 

The Holy Father has asked every cathedral in the world to celebrate a Holy Mass to observe the solemn opening of the Jubilee.

What is a plenary indulgence?

A plenary indulgence is a grace granted by the Catholic Church through the merits of Jesus Christ, Mary, and all the saints to remove the temporal punishment due to sin. The indulgence cleanses a person of all temporal punishment due to sin. However, it must always be accompanied by a full detachment from sin. 

Conditions to receive a plenary indulgence in all cases:

1.      Detachment from all sin, even venial.

2.      Sacramental confession, holy Communion, and prayer for the intentions of the pope. Sacramental confession and receiving the Eucharist can happen up to about 20 days before or after the act performed to receive a plenary indulgence. 

Special Accommodations for the Homebound and Those with Other Limitations

Those unable attend in person can pray along via livestream at www.dosp.org/livestream, Facebook.com/DioStPete, or YouTube.com/DioceseofStPete. The Mass will also be broadcast live on Spirit FM 90.5.

The Holy Father has made accommodations for those who cannot participate in person for “serious reasons" can still receive a Plenary Indulgence.  In his document about Jubilee Year indulgences, Pope Francis stated:

 “The faithful who are truly repentant of sin but who cannot participate in the various solemn celebrations, pilgrimages and pious visits for serious reasons (especially cloistered nuns and monks, but also the elderly, the sick, prisoners, and those who, through their work in hospitals or other care facilities, provide continuous service to the sick), can obtain the Jubilee Indulgence, under the same conditions if, united in spirit with the faithful taking part in person, (especially when the words of the Supreme Pontiff or the diocesan Bishop are transmitted through the various means of communication), they recite the Our Father, the Profession of Faith in any approved form, and other prayers in conformity with the objectives of the Holy Year, in their homes or wherever they are confined (e.g. in the chapel of the monastery, hospital, nursing home, prison...) offering up their sufferings or the hardships of their lives.”

The Holy Father further establishes the following indications, so that the faithful may take advantage of the "norms for obtaining and rendering spiritually fruitful the practice of the Jubilee indulgence" (Spes non confundit, 23).

 “During the Ordinary Jubilee of 2025, all other Indulgences previously granted remain in force. All the faithful, who are truly repentant and free from any affection for sin (cf. Enchiridion Indulgentiarum, IV ed., norm. 20, § 1), who are moved by a spirit of charity and who, during the Holy Year, purified through the sacrament of penance and refreshed by Holy Communion, pray for the intentions of the Supreme Pontiff, will be able to obtain from the treasury of the Church a plenary indulgence, with remission and forgiveness of all their sins, which can be applied in suffrage to the souls in Purgatory.”