The Pope’s dream for the Jubilee: to silence the guns and abolish the death penalty

Salvatore Cernuzio – Vatican City

It is the hope that the Pope invokes as a gift in Jubilee 2025 for a world marked by arms conflict, death, destruction, hatred of others, hunger, “ecological debt” and low birth rates. Hope is the balm that Francis wants to pour on the wounds of a humanity oppressed by the “brutality of violence” or that finds itself in the grip of an exponential growth in poverty. “Spes non confusion”, hope does not disappoint, is the title of the Bull proclaiming the Ordinary Jubilee delivered this afternoon, May 9, by the Pope to the Churches of the five continents during the first Vespers of the Solemnity of the Ascension. The Bull, divided into 25 points, contains supplications, proposals, appeals in favor of prisoners, the sick, the elderly, the poor, the young, and announces the news of a Holy Year that will have as its theme “Pilgrims of hope”.

A common date for Easter

In the document, Pope Francis recalls two important anniversaries: the celebration in 2033 of the two thousand years of the Redemption and the 1700th anniversary of the first great Ecumenical Council of Nicaea, which, among other topics, also dealt with defining the date of Easter. Even today, “different positions” prevent the celebration on the same day of “the founding event of faith”, he highlights, remembering that, however, “due to a providential circumstance, this will happen precisely in the year 2025” (17).

“Let this be a call to all Christians of East and West to resolutely take a step towards unity around a common date for Easter.”

The opening of the Holy Door

In the midst of these “great steps”, the Pope establishes that the Holy Door of Saint Peter’s Basilica will be opened on December 24, 2024. The following Sunday, December 29, the Pontiff will open the Holy Door of the Basilica of Saint John of Lateran; on January 1, 2025, Solemnity of Mary Mother of God, that of Santa Maria Maior and, on January 5, the Holy Door of São Paulo Outside the Walls. The three Gates will be closed on Sunday, December 28th of the same year. The Jubilee will end with the closing of the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica on January 6, 2026. (6)

Signs of the times

Francis hopes that “the first sign of hope” of the Jubilee “will translate into peace for the world, once again immersed in the tragedy of war.”

“Forgetting the dramas of the past, humanity finds itself once again subjected to a difficult test that sees many populations oppressed by the brutality of violence. Are these people still missing something that they have not already suffered? How is it possible that their desperate cry for aid does not encourage those responsible for nations to want to put an end to too many regional conflicts, aware of the consequences that could result at a global level? Is it excessive to dream that weapons will remain silent and stop spreading destruction and death?”

Appeal in favor of birth control

With concern, Pope Francis notes the “fall in the birth rate” that is being recorded in several countries and for various reasons: “the frenetic pace of life”, “the fears about the future”, “the lack of job guarantees and adequate social protection” and “social models dictated more by the search for profit than by the care of human relationships”. For the Pontiff, there is an “urgent need” for “convinced support” from the faithful and civil society to the “desire” of young people to generate new children, so that the future can be “marked by the smiles of so many boys and girls who, in many parts of the world, come and fill the many empty cradles”. (9)

For prisoners, respect, dignified conditions, abolition of the death penalty

Next, Francisco asks for “tangible signs of hope” for the prisoners. He proposes to governments “forms of amnesty or pardon of the sentence”, as well as “pathways for reintegration into the community”. Above all, the Pope calls for “dignified conditions for those in prison, respect for human rights and above all the abolition of the death penalty.” (10) To offer prisoners a concrete sign of closeness, the Pontiff himself will open a Holy Door in a prison.

Hope for the sick and encouragement for young people: “We cannot disappoint them.”

Signs of hope must also be offered to the sick, whether at home or in the hospital: “Care for them is a hymn to human dignity.” (11) Hope is also necessary for young people who, so often, “see their dreams crumble”.

“The illusion of drugs, the risk of transgression and the search for the ephemeral create confusion among young people more than others and hide from them the beauty and meaning of life, making them slip into dark abysses and pushing them to self-destructive gestures.” (12)

Signs of hope for migrants

Once again the Pope asks that the expectations of migrants “not be frustrated by prejudice and isolation”.

“To so many exiles, displaced people and refugees who, due to controversial international events, are forced to flee to avoid wars, violence and discrimination, be guaranteed security and access to work and education, necessary instruments for their integration into the new social context .” (13)

The number of poor people in the world is scandalous

Francisco does not forget, in the Bull, the many elderly people who “experience loneliness and the feeling of abandonment” (14). He also does not forget the “billions” of poor people who “lack what is necessary to live” and “suffer the exclusion and indifference of many”. “It is scandalous,” according to Francis, that the poor constitute the majority of the population in a world “endowed with enormous resources destined largely for weapons.” (15) He then asks “those who have wealth to be generous”, and renews his call for the creation of “a Global Fund to end hunger once and for all” with money from military spending. (16)

Debt forgiveness for poor countries

Another sincere invitation is addressed to the richest nations to “recognize the seriousness of many decisions taken and establish debt forgiveness of countries that will never be able to pay them.” “It is a question of justice,” writes Pope Francis, “aggravated today by a new form of inequality,” such as “ecological debt,” especially between the North and the South. ( 16)

The testimony of the martyrs

In the Jubilee Bull, the Pope invites us to look at the testimony of the martyrs, belonging to the different Christian traditions, and expresses the desire that the ecumenical aspect be present during the Holy Year.

“These martyrs, belonging to different Christian traditions, are also seeds of unity, because they express the ecumenism of blood. During the Jubilee I fervently hope that there will be no lack of an ecumenical celebration to highlight the richness of the testimony of these Martyrs.” (20)

The importance of Confession and the role of the Missionaries of Mercy

Francis also refers to the sacrament of Penance and announces the continuation of the service of the Missionaries of Mercy, established during the extraordinary Jubilee. He asks the bishops to send them to places where “hope is put to a severe test, such as prisons, hospitals and places where the dignity of the person is trampled on, in the most disadvantaged situations and in contexts of greatest degradation, so that no one be deprived of the possibility of receiving God’s forgiveness and consolation.” (23)

The invitation to the Eastern Churches and the Orthodox

The Pope addresses “a special invitation” to the faithful of the Eastern Churches who “suffered so much, often to the point of death, for their fidelity to Christ and the Church”. These brothers must feel “particularly welcome to Rome, which is also Mother to them and preserves so many memories of her presence.” The welcome also for Orthodox brothers and sisters who are already living “the pilgrimage of the Way of the Cross, often being forced to leave their homelands, their holy lands, from where violence and instability expel them towards more insurance” (05).

Prayer at Marian shrines

Francis also invites “pilgrims who come to Rome” to pray at the city’s Marian shrines to invoke Mary’s protection, in order to “experience the closeness of the most affectionate of mothers, who never abandons her children.” (24)