In light of the numerous calls and messages I have received requesting a clear explanation on how to gain a plenary indulgence during the Jubilee Year, I would like to offer a brief guide, divided into three parts: What is the Jubilee Year? What are indulgences? How can they be earned?

What is the Jubilee Year?

Also called the Holy Year, it is a special time of grace in which the Church grants spiritual graces to the faithful who meet certain conditions. It is not simply a matter of crossing a threshold or making a pilgrimage: the Jubilee Year is, above all, a time of renewal of relationship with God and neighbor.

Pope Francis defines it as an opportunity to promote faith, solidarity, and reconciliation. It is a privileged moment to grow in love for God through prayer, adoration, the recitation of the Rosary, the Chaplet and Novena of Divine Mercy, and devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. But it is also a call to repair broken relationships, to forgive and ask for forgiveness, and to live justice and charity, as Zacchaeus did when he returned what he had unjustly taken.

Where does the Jubilee come from?

The word jubilee comes from the Hebrew word yobel, which was the ram’s horn used to announce the feasts. In the Old Testament, the Jews celebrated a sabbatical year every seven years, and a jubilee every 50 years, during which the land rested, debts were forgiven, and slaves were freed.

In the New Testament, this meaning takes on a spiritual dimension: to abundantly distribute the graces Christ has granted us, underscoring the need for forgiveness and divine mercy. The Jubilee also calls us to be merciful to others, offering forgiveness as God offers it to us.

What is a plenary indulgence, and how do you earn it?

Celebrating a Jubilee is like opening the gates of heaven to receive spiritual blessings. One of the greatest is the plenary indulgence, that is, the total forgiveness of temporal punishments for sins already forgiven in confession.

To obtain it, the following conditions must be met:

1. Sacramental confession (with the intention of abandoning sin, even venial sin).
2. Eucharistic Communion.
3. Praying for the Pope’s intentions.
4. Performing a Jubilee work, such as making a pilgrimage and crossing the Holy Door or performing a work of mercy or charity.
5. Completely detaching oneself from sin, even from the affection for venial sin.

All of this is meaningless if, after fulfilling the external conditions, we continue to live in mediocrity or return to the same harmful habits. The Jubilee is an occasion for profound conversion, not a ritual gesture.

A Little History

The first Holy Year with modern characteristics was celebrated in 1425 with Pope Martin V, who introduced the commemorative medal and the opening of the Holy Door at St. John Lateran. In 1500, Alexander VI instituted the opening of the four major basilicas in Rome.

Since then, an Ordinary Jubilee has been celebrated every 25 years to give everyone, at least once in their life, the opportunity to experience this grace. There have also been Extraordinary Jubilees, such as the Jubilee of the Year 2000 or the Jubilee of Mercy in 2015.

A Call to All

With the Jubilee of 2025 in sight, a new opportunity opens to renew faith, experience God’s mercy, and extend it to others. As Jesus said to Peter in Matthew 16:19: “I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven…” The Church, through the Pope, offers us a treasure chest of spiritual treasures for those who sincerely seek them.

Let us live this time for what it is: a celebration of the soul, a homecoming, a new beginning. May this year not pass without allowing God to transform you.