Vatican, 18 May, 2023 / 12:32 pm (ACI Africa).
As Rome and the Vatican prepare for an influx of millions of people for a special year focused on hope, one experienced jubilee attendee is offering her advice for a fruitful pilgrimage.
“A pilgrimage as massive as that of a jubilee year should be a wonderful, unique, spiritual experience,” Joan Lewis, author of “A Holy Year in Rome: The Complete Pilgrim’s Guide for the Jubilee of Mercy,” told CNA.
“Watching people from all over the world praying... it’s an experience of the universal Church. For me, it reinforces my faith.”
The Vatican and the city of Rome are expecting an estimated 35 million people to flock to the Eternal City for the 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope — the first ordinary jubilee since the Great Jubilee of 2000.
A jubilee is a special holy year of grace and pilgrimage in the Catholic Church. It typically takes place once every 25 years, though the pope can call for extraordinary jubilee years more often, such as in the case of the 2016 Year of Mercy or the 2013 Year of Faith.