News from the Vatican

The Vatican is the world’s smallest city state, it was created by the signing of the Lateran treaty in February 1929. It is where the Pope, the head of the Roman Catholic Church resides and works alongside the cardinals.

The Vatican has its own flag and anthem, issues its own euros, passports, licence plates and stamps. It operates several media outlets, keeping the world up to date with Papal news.

As well as being the Head of the Catholic Church, the Pope is also the head of the Vatican City and is the Bishop of Rome.

The following sites will give you access to all the news from the Vatican and the Papacy.

Website
News from the Vatican – News about the Church – Vatican News

Youtube
Vatican & World News 28.06.2024 (youtube.com)

X/twitter
Pope Francis (@Pontifex) / X

Facebook
(2) Facebook

Instagram
Vatican news @vatican news
Pope Francis @fransiscus

The Year of Prayer 2024 and The Jubilee Year 2025

The Jubilee Year (taken from Vatican News)

Following the extraordinary 2015 Holy Year of Mercy instigated by Pope Francis, the forthcoming Jubilee will take place in line with the norm of leaving a 25-year gap between each one. The most recent ordinary jubilee took place in the year 2000, as the world and the Catholic Church prepared to enter the new millennium.

The Jubilee Year is a special year of grace, in which the Church offers the faithful the possibility of obtaining a plenary indulgence. Traditionally, it begins just before Christmas and ends on the Epiphany of the following year.

The Pope inaugurates the Holy Year with the rite of the opening of the Holy Door in St. Peter’s Basilica. After that, the Holy Doors of the other papal basilicas – St John Lateran, St Paul Outside the Walls, and St Mary Major – are opened and remain so until the end of the Jubilee Year.

In preparation for the 2025 Jubilee Year ‘Pilgrims of Hope’, 2024 has been designated a Year of Prayer by Pope Francis. There is a particular focus on the Our Father, and this presents us with a great opportunity to go back to the basics of prayer.

Our Father,
Who art in Heaven,
hallowed be Thy name;
Thy Kingdom come,
Thy will be done
on earth as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
Amen.

2025 Jubilee Year

The official Jubilee website states: After the year devoted to reflecting on the documents and studying the fruits of the Second Vatican Council, Pope Francis has proposed that 2024 should be marked as a year dedicated to prayer. In preparation for the Jubilee, dioceses are invited to promote initiatives to remind people of the centrality of both individual prayer and community prayer. They are also invited to say the following prayer:

The Jubilee Prayer*
Father in heaven,
may the faith you have given us
in your son, Jesus Christ, our brother,
and the flame of charity enkindled
in our hearts by the Holy Spirit,
reawaken in us the blessed hope
for the coming of your Kingdom.
May your grace transform us
into tireless cultivators of the seeds of the Gospel.
May those seeds transform from within both humanity and the whole cosmos
in the sure expectation
of a new heaven and a new earth,
when, with the powers of Evil vanquished,
your glory will shine eternally.

May the grace of the Jubilee
reawaken in us, Pilgrims of Hope,
a yearning for the treasures of heaven.
May that same grace spread
the joy and peace of our Redeemer
throughout the earth.
To you our God, eternally blessed,
be glory and praise for ever.
Amen

*Prayer cards can be found in the church porch.