Archbishop Charles Brown, the papal nuncio to the Philippines, has echoed Pope Francis’ call for a “Year of Prayer” to help Catholics prepare for the 2025 Jubilee.
READ: Pope Francis announces Year of Prayer to prepare for 2025 Jubilee
Addressing the Philippine bishops at the start of their plenary assembly on Saturday, he encouraged them “to find ways” in their own dioceses to implement the special year.
“Prayer is the foundation of everything,” Brown said.
The nuncio particularly called for a spirit of synodality during this Year of Prayer “to accompany the work that will be done in Rome in October with the second meeting of the synod members.”
The pope officially opened the Year of Prayer on Jan. 21, calling on the faithful “to pray more fervently to prepare ourselves to live properly in this grace-filled event and to experience the power of hope in God.”
The celebration, he explained, is dedicated “to rediscovering the great value and absolute need for prayer, prayer in personal life, in the life of the Church, prayer in the world.”
The Jubilee Year will officially begin with the opening of the Holy Door in St. Peter’s Basilica on Dec. 24, and concludes on Jan. 6, 2026.
A Jubilee is a special Holy Year of grace and pilgrimage in the Catholic Church, which typically takes place every 25 years.
During this year, the pontiff will establish a “School of Prayer”.
Archbishop Rino Fisichella, pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization’s section for new evangelization,
described it “as a series of moments of encounter with specific groups of people to pray together and better understand the various forms of prayer: from thanksgiving to intercession; from contemplative prayer to the prayer of consolation; from adoration to supplication.”
Pilgrims can learn more about the upcoming Jubilee Year on the Jubilee website and through its official mobile app, “Iubilaeum25.”
