SAN DIEGO — “We all need hope.”
That’s why Victoria Martino and her daughter and a family friend turned out for the start of the diocese’s celebration of the Jubilee Year in the Catholic Church.
“This feels very relevant now,” Martino said after the Sunday morning Mass at St. Joseph Cathedral on Dec. 29 that capped the Jubilee’s local launch.
The observance had begun earlier that morning at nearby Our Lady of the Rosary Church, where Auxiliary Bishop Ramón Bejarano led a prayer as the faithful packed the pews and jammed into the back of the historic building.
“In fellowship with the Universal Church, we open the Jubilee Year for the Church of San Diego. Today is a prelude to a rich experience of grace, mercy and consolation … The reason for our hope, especially in this time of war and disorder, is Jesus Christ.”
Afterward, all set off in a procession, at times stretching three blocks long. They walked to the cathedral, where Bishop Bejarano proclaimed a special blessing for the Jubilee Year and celebrated Mass. The faithful filled the 900-seat church, which the diocese has designated as the site for local Jubilee pilgrimages.
A Jubilee Year is an important event in the Catholic Church, a time of grace, forgiveness and reconciliation. The Church observes an “ordinary” Jubilee Year every 25 years. The 2025 theme calls on Catholics to be “Pilgrims of Hope.”
Pope Francis launched the observance of the Jubilee Year on Dec. 24 by opening a Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica. Dioceses across the world began their observance of the special year on Dec. 29.
Several parishes and clergy members are organizing pilgrimages to Rome and surrounding cities. The diocese’s three auxiliary bishops are planning “A Jubilee Journey to Assisi & Rome,” Oct. 27 to Nov. 7. More information on these pilgrimages is available at sdcatholic.org/jubilee2025.
At Our Lady of the Rosary Church, Chancellor María “Marioly” Galván read a portion of the official Church document, known as a “Papal Bull of Indiction,” announcing the Jubilee Year 2025.
“For everyone, may the Jubilee be a moment of genuine, personal encounter with the Lord Jesus, the ‘door’ of our salvation, whom the Church is charged to proclaim always, everywhere and to all as ‘our hope’” (1 Tim 1:1), she read.
“Everyone knows what it is to hope. In the heart of each person, hope dwells as the desire and expectation of good things to come, despite our not knowing what the future may bring. Even so, uncertainty about the future may at times give rise to conflicting feelings,” she continued. “For all of us, may the Jubilee be an opportunity to be renewed in hope. God’s word helps us find reasons for that hope.”
Afterward, the faithful moved outside to begin the procession, which was led by seminarians, followed by deacons, priests and Bishop Bejarano. Hundreds walked under cloudy skies, some carrying babies and small children, to the cathedral.
Once there, the bishop stood at the top of a long set of steps as the faithful fanned out around him all the way to the street. He proclaimed a special Jubilee prayer and then opened one of the cathedral’s doors and proceeded inside.
In his homily, Bishop Bejarano said that Pope Francis “invites us to sing a song of hope” to the world.
“A song is something beautiful that expresses our most intimate feelings. A song can make us joyful, can make us sad, can bring us together,” he said.
He said that to sing a song of hope, “you first need to be good listeners. We need to understand our brothers and sisters with our hearts,” to be empathetic and understanding.
Reflecting on the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, he urged the faithful to consider, in their song of hope, the three dimensions of the family: the nuclear family, the extended family and the universal family, and to act accordingly to promote peace and unity.
“The universal family should be a concern for all of us,” he said, whether it’s in the parish, in the community or in the world. “All of us are part of a greater picture.
“No matter how different we might be, the language that we speak, all of us are children of the same God, who created us in his image and likeness, with perfect and unconditional love.
“Everyone who lives in the world is a member of this universal family. And we should treat each other as brothers and sisters.”
For more information, visit sdcatholic.org/jubilee2025.
