What is the Jubilee and what opportunities does it offer for our movement?Rooted in a tradition dating back to Pope Boniface VIII’s declaration of the first Holy Year in 1300, the Jubilee is a special year in the Catholic Church dedicated to special graces, renewal, forgiveness, cancellation of debts, and freedom. It offers a time for pilgrimage, reflection, and deeper engagement with themes of Catholic Social Teaching. The theme of the Jubilee 2025, “Pilgrims of Hope,” resonates deeply with our work, as it gives voice to all pilgrims, including those who yearn for a future characterized by climate justice, liberation, and universal solidarity. The Jubilee year will begin on December 24, 2024, with Pope Francis opening the Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City, and will end on January 6, 2026. 

Jubilees have evolved to reflect the Catholic Church's mission in modern times, and this Jubilee year is particularly significant for our movement and provides a unique opportunity to frontline leaders to engage the Catholic Church more deeply— as “pilgrims of hope”—on the urgent need for Global Climate Reparations and its role in advancing this vision, as Pope Francis calls for debts cancelation, framing is as a question of human dignity and ecological justice. Hence the primary focal points for the Jubilee Convening will be on areas that frontline communities and the Church can move for collective liberation: 1) Debt Abolition & Reparative Climate Justice Investments; 2) Climate Migration; 3) Land stewardship and care for creation.