Ongoing 2025 Jubilee Year Should Inspire “hope, transformation” in Learners: Superior of Religious Order in Angola

“These schools serve 9,753 students, offering education from preschool to the second cycle of secondary education,” Fr. Sissimo told ACI Africa during the April 10 interview. 

The Angolan Catholic Priest continued, “The Jubilee of the Calabrian Schools is not just a celebration of the history and educational mission of the male and female Congregations of the Poor Servants of Divine Providence, but also a moment for reflecting on the current and future challenges of education in Angola.”

Asked about planned activities to mark the yearlong event scheduled to conclude on 6 January 2026, Fr. Sissimo said, “The Jubilee of the Calabrian Schools is in full swing in Angola, with various activities celebrating and reflecting on the legacy of the schools of the Congregation of the Poor Servants and Poor Servant Sisters of Divine Providence.”

“Among the completed activities are the Jubilee of the Trainees, the Jubilee of the Trainers, and the Jubilee of the Calabrian Parishes,” he said, adding, “These events provided moments of reflection, sharing, and spiritual renewal, strengthening the Congregation’s commitment to Gospel principles and the integral formation of its educational communities.”

The outlined activities culminated in the First National Meeting of Calabrian Schools from April 7-9, which gathered 35 delegates from 12 schools across eight provinces of Angola at the Divina Providência Auditorium in the Residential Complex of the Calabrians in Luanda, the Provincial Superior told ACI Africa. 

He said that “the main objective of this event was the exchange of experiences and the strengthening of the identity of the Calabrian Schools, aligning them with the principles of the Catholic Church and the country's educational legislation.”

During the meeting, Fr. Sissimo explained, “The ongoing challenge of maintaining the infrastructure quality of Calabrian Schools was also discussed, as many of them face structural maintenance difficulties.”

“Another identified challenge is ensuring the strong presence of Calabrian Schools in local communities, always seeking the human and spiritual renewal that the Catholic Church advocates,” he said.  

Reflecting on the framework agreement between the government of Angola and the Catholic Church in the sector of formal education, the Angolan Catholic Priest said it has “helped to strengthen school infrastructure, including the provision of teachers and material resources.”

“The Calabrian Jubilee program will continue until December this year, with several events planned for the coming months. Every month, new activities will take place in different regions of Angola, celebrating specific moments for children, the sick, adults, and teenagers who are part of the Calabrian family,” Fr. Sissimo told ACI Africa.

Pope Francis announced the start of a Year of Prayer on 21 January 2024 in preparation for the Church’s 2025 Jubilee Year, the second in his Pontificate after the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy in 2015.

He said that the 2025 Jubilee Year, whose theme is “Pilgrims of Hope”, will be “a year dedicated to rediscovering the great value and absolute need for prayer in one’s personal life, in the life of the Church, and in the world.”

Months later, on the Solemnity of the Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ on 9 May 2024, the Holy Father solemnly proclaimed the upcoming Jubilee Year 2025 at a ceremony in St. Peter’s Basilica, during which he delivered the Bull of Indiction of the planned Jubilee, “Spes non confundit” (Hope does not disappoint).

The 2025 Jubilee Year provides the people of God across the globe an opportunity to participate in various planned jubilee events at the Vatican and in their respective Episcopal Sees and Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life (ICLSAL).