POPE LEO XIV PROCLAIMS FRANCISCAN JUBILEE YEAR FOR THE 800TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE DEATH OF ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI

 Pope Leo XIV proclaims Franciscan Jubilee Year for the

800th anniversary of the Death of St. Francis of Assisi

It is with joy that we announce the promulgation of the Decree establishing a special Jubilee Year in commemoration of the Eighth Centenary of the death of St. Francis of Assisi.

His Holiness Pope Leo XIV has arranged that, from the 10th January, 2026 to the 10th January, 2027, this Year of St. Francis will be celebrated, during which all the Christian faithful are invited to follow the example of the Saint of Assisi, becoming models of holiness of life and constant witnesses of peace. The Apostolic Penitentiary grants the plenary indulgence under the usual conditions to those who participate devoutly in this extraordinary jubilee, which represents an ideal continuation of the Ordinary Jubilee of 2025.

This Jubilee Year is addressed especially to members of the Franciscan Families of the First, Second and Third Regular and Secular Orders, as well as to Institutes of Consecrated Life, Societies of Apostolic Life and Associations that observe the Rule of St. Francis or are inspired by its spirituality. However, the grace of this special year is also extended to all the faithful without distinction who, with their spirits removed from sin, visit in the form of a pilgrimage any Franciscan conventual church or place of worship dedicated to St. Francis in any part of the world. The elderly, the sick and those who for serious reasons cannot leave home will also be able to obtain the plenary indulgence by spiritually joining the Jubilee celebrations and offering their prayers, pains or sufferings to God.

In this time of celebration that culminates eight hundred years of Franciscan memory, we cordially invite all the faithful to take an active part in this exceptional Jubilee. May the shining example of St. Francis, who knew how to make himself poor and humble in order to be true alter Christus on earth, inspire our hearts to live with authentic Christian charity towards our neighbour and with sincere longings for concord and peace among peoples. Following in the footsteps of the Poverello of Assisi, let us transform the hope that made us pilgrims during the Holy Year into fervour and zeal of effective charity. May this Year of St Francis be for each one of us a providential occasion for sanctification and evangelical witness in the contemporary world, for the glory of God and the good of the whole Church.

Conditions for receiving the Indulgence

(for oneself or for the deceased)

Sacramental confession to be in God's grace (in the eight days before or after);

Participation in Mass and Eucharistic Communion;

To visit in the form of a pilgrimage any Franciscan church or place of worship dedicated to St. Francis anywhere in the world, where one renews one's profession of faith, through the recitation of the Creed, to reaffirm one's Christian identity;

The recitation of the Lord's Prayer, to reaffirm the dignity of children of God, received in Baptism;

To pray for the intentions of the Holy Father, to reaffirm belonging to the Church, whose foundation and visible center of unity is the Roman Pontiff.

Souce: Capuchin Franciscans - Western America Province