The "Jubilee of Hope" Celebration and The "Year of the Family" in the Beijing Diocese: A Pastoral Guide from the Catholic Diocese of Beijing

Text from Beijing Catholic Church translated by Gaby, with introductory comments by Tom McGuire

Pope Francis called all Catholics to celebrate a Jubilee Holy Year of Hope in the decree called "Hope Does Not Disappoint", with the prayer, "In this Jubilee Year, may no one be deprived of the opportunity to receive God’s forgiveness and consolation.” The Catholic Diocese of Beijing provided these guidelines for Catholics to encourage concrete Catholics to be "leaven of authentic hope, a harbinger of new heavens and a new earth:

The Beijing Diocese, in accordance with the 2025 Jubilee Decree: “Hope is not Deceptive," and in collaboration with the Diocesan parish pastoral ministries, intends to solemnly celebrate the Universal Church's "Pilgrims of Hope" and the diocese's "Year of the Family." On December 28, 2024, Bishop Li Shan and all the clergy will officially inaugurate 2024 as a Holy Year with a Thanksgiving Mass at the Cathedral in the North Church in Xishiku.

I. Restitution of Diocesan Pilgrimage Site Activities and Jubilee Pilgrimage Churches

1. All Mentougou Housangyu Our Lady Pilgrimage Site activities (pictured right) will be fully reinstated. 

2. During the Jubilee Year, parishes and communities are encouraged to prioritize pilgrimages to the following designated churches within the Beijing diocese:  Xishiku Cathedral,  Xuanwumen church, Wangfujing church, Xizhimen church, Yanqing Yongning church, Tongzhou Jiaohoutuan church,  Mentougou Housangyuc church, Daxing Xihulin church, and Fangshan Lijiao church.

3. Support parish fellowships or group collaborations, arrange cross-group and cross-parish activities, and jointly organize pilgrimages and prayer events.

II. Parish (or Community) Celebrations and Arrangements

1. Throughout the Jubilee Year, all parishes should, as much as possible, celebrate Jubilee-specific Masses for pilgrims or groups. Each parish and community should prominently display the Jubilee logo. Faithful should pray the "Jubilee Prayer" (pictured left) before and after mass.

2. Each parish is required to emphasize pre-marital counseling for the faithful to ensure the sanctity and solemnity of the Sacrament of Marriage.

3. Parishes should take opportunities such as wedding anniversaries, silver jubilees, and golden jubilees to organize various forms of group weddings or ceremonies for the renewal of marriage vows.

4. The parish priest should arrange fixed times for confession or designate a regular confessor based on the circumstances and characteristics of the parish, ensuring that the faithful and pilgrims experience forgiveness and receive healing during the Jubilee Year.

5. Parishes and communities with the capacity should regularly hold communal penitential services.

6. Priests should pay special attention to the spiritual needs of home-based parishioners, particularly making available Holy Communion and the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick.

7. Promote evangelization in the spirit of “synodality” (cf. Jubilee Decree No. 17). 

8. Establish evangelization teams, provide effective catechumenate classes, and make good use of the laity’s charisms to collectively fulfill the mission of evangelization.

III. Jubilee Celebrations for Christian Families

1. Lead Christian family members to participate together in mass and other church activities.

2. Live out the faith in family life by organizing family prayer activities, such as couples' Bible study, family recitation of the Rosary, learning about the faith together, and setting up a family Nativity scene during Christmas.

3. Encourage Christian families to pray and perform acts of charity together, whether as individual families, as couples, or as neighbors (or communities).

IV. Emphasize Charity and Renew the Zeal of Christian Families and Communities to Serve Others

1. Each parish and community should leverage its strengths to continue and improve existing charitable works, such as supporting students, assisting the elderly, and helping those in need.

2. Promote the spirit of charity and the tradition of works of mercy. Emphasize "everyday holiness" and strive to be "saints in the world." Regularly visit the homebound, the weak, and the sick, especially "migrant parishioners" who have left their hometowns for work. Use traditional holidays (such as the Spring Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, and Double Ninth Festival) to express the Church's and parish's care and concern for them.

3. Renew the zeal of Christian families and communities to care for others and serve society. For example, strive to become "peacemakers" (Matthew 5:9), fostering harmony, building relationships, and demonstrating fraternity. Be "people filled with the passion to transmit life;" care for brothers and sisters living in difficult situations, and pray for the deceased.

May the 2025 Jubilee Year become an opportunity for all parishioners and Christian families to encounter the Lord, cross the Holy Door (Rome) together, and become spiritual leaven, beacons of hope, and havens of protection. Through words and actions, proclaim to the world that all people are "pilgrims" (Leviticus 25:23); that the Lord Jesus is the "Gate" of our salvation (cf. John 10:7); and that Christ is "our Hope" (1 Timothy 1:1). May each of us Christians live by faith, filled with firm hope, and dedicate ourselves in love to serve our brothers and sisters, as we await together the return of our Savior. 

Gaby is a friend and contributor to the USCCA Blog.

Tom McGuire, M.Div, M.R.E. is a Director Emeritus of the USCCA. Tom has served as a Maryknoll Missionary in Hong Kong and as Director of Campus Ministry at University of Detroit Mercy. He is now retired, living in Chicago with his family.

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