Four Tasmanian churches designated as places of pilgrimage for 2025 Holy Year
By Josh Low
Four Tasmanian churches have been designated as places of pilgrimage next year, in line with Pope Francis’ declaration of 2025 as a Holy Year.
With the act of going on pilgrimage an ancient Christian practice which lies at the heart of a Holy Year, the faithful are invited to journey to Rome and enter St Peter’s Basilica through the Holy Door.
For those unable to go to Rome, dioceses around the world are encouraged to provide opportunities for pilgrimage.
In the Archdiocese of Hobart, the four designated pilgrimage sites will be Holy Trinity Church in Westbury, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Church in Ross, St John’s Church in Richmond, and the Shrine of Our Lady of Victories in Lutana.
Each parish is invited to plan a pilgrimage to one of these sites during the Holy Year.
According to the Apostolic Penitentiary, the faithful who are “truly repentant and free from any affection for sin, 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” can obtain the Jubilee Indulgence.
A plenary indulgence with remission and forgiveness of all their sins, the Jubilee Indulgence also requires “devoutly visiting any Jubilee site and there, for a suitable period of time, engage in Eucharistic adoration and meditation, concluding with the Our Father, the Profession of Faith in any legitimate form, and invocations to Mary, the Mother of God.”
It is also recommended that pilgrims, either personally or communally, recite the Holy Year Pilgrim’s Prayer.
Pope Francis explained that the indulgence is a way of “discovering the unlimited nature of God’s mercy”.
“The coming Jubilee will thus be a Holy Year marked by the hope that does not fade, our hope in God,” the Holy Father said.
“May it help us to recover the confident trust that we require, in the Church and in society, in our interpersonal relationships, in international relations, and in our task of promoting the dignity of all persons and respect for God’s gift of creation.
“May the witness of believers be for our world a leaven of authentic hope, a harbinger of new heavens and a new earth (cf. 2 Pet 3:13), where men and women will dwell in justice and harmony, in joyful expectation of the fulfilment of the Lord’s promises.
“During the Holy Year, may the light of Christian hope illumine every man and woman, as a message of God’s love addressed to all! And may the Church bear faithful witness to this message in every part of the world!”