2025 marked 60 years since the second Vatican Council, or Vatican II. Following a Year of Prayer in 2024, celebrations of the Jubilee year began. The theme was Pilgrims of Hope.
An ordinary jubilee happens in the church every 25 years – the last one was in the year 2000. Jubilee years date back to the 1300s, and traditionally, it is a year that sees the remission of sins, debts and universal pardon.
Now the Pilgrims of Hope Jubilee Year has officially closed, parishes across the Archdiocese of Liverpool are looking back on twelve months filled with prayer, pilgrimage, mission and renewed community life.
From special liturgies and talks to pilgrim walks, school celebrations, and diocesan-wide events, the Jubilee has touched every corner of the archdiocese in unique and life-giving ways.
Here is a look back at some of the moments that shaped this Holy Year.
For St Mary’s Parish in Leyland, the Jubilee was marked with a special pilgrimage to Lourdes, joining the wider archdiocesan pilgrimage.
For some parishioners. it was a return to a much-loved place; for others, a first encounter with the peace and beauty of the shrine. The experience, described by some as “a glimpse of heaven,” strengthened bonds of faith and fellowship.
The group also brought along Luce, the Jubilee mascot from the Vatican — who even managed to be photographed with Archbishop John Sherrington and Archbishop Emeritus Malcolm McMahon OP.
As one of the archdiocese’s designated Jubilee Churches, St Mary’s in Chorley embraced the year with a strong focus on Reconciliation, the Eucharist and the Rosary.
Highlights of their Jubilee journey included:
St Mary’s reported welcoming many visitors throughout the year, with several people enquiring about becoming Catholic.
The Metropolitan Cathedral has been a central hub of Jubilee activity, hosting some of the archdiocese’s most significant events, including:
Each event drew pilgrims from across the archdiocese, giving thousands the chance to encounter Christ in prayer, teaching and community.
On 28 December 2025, the Cathedral hosted the Archdiocesan Mass to close the Jubilee Year, celebrated at 11.00am.
Many parishes found creative ways to live the Jubilee theme throughout the year. Some examples include:
The parish hosted a pilgrim walk on 24 August which began and ended at the church — home to the relic of St Edmund Arrowsmith. At the same time, visitors could view Blessed Carlo Acutis’ Eucharistic Miracles Exhibition, which inspired reflection on the centrality of the Eucharist. Later in the Jubilee Year, Carlo Acutis was canonised as Saint Carlo Acutis, alongside Saint Giorgio Frassati — two young saints whose lives continue to speak powerfully to young people today, reminding the Church that holiness is possible in every generation.
The parish held a dedicated pilgrim walk and later welcomed the Jubilee Icon for an evening of reflection and prayer on 3 November. St Anne & Blessed Dominic, St Helens Parishioners formed the Friends of the Shrine of Blessed Dominic, a group dedicated to welcoming pilgrims through the year — a beautiful witness of hospitality and service.
From 27 October to 10 November, the CAFOD Jubilee Icon journeyed across the Archdiocese of Liverpool. Painted in the Northern Ethiopian tradition, it portrays Christ with distinctive symbolic detail, offering a focus for contemplation and hope. You can read more about its origins and its journey across Liverpool below. In each location, parishioners, young people, visitors and pilgrims paused to pray, to reflect on hope, and to experience the Jubilee in a fresh way.
Schools across the Archdiocese of Liverpool spent the Jubilee year walking together as Young Pilgrims of Hope. From special liturgies and whole-school pilgrimages to creative learning and charitable action , our young people have embraced Pope Francis’ invitation to live with “deep faith, lively hope, and active charity.”
Throughout the year, thousands of pupils have taken part in activities helping them recognise God’s presence in their daily lives and encouraging them to bring hope to their communities.
Here’s a look back at some of the inspiring celebrations that took place across our schools.
Pupils from St Mary’s Primary School and Hope Academy united for a beautiful celebration to mark the end of the Jubilee Year. Together, pupils reflected on their experiences, shared their hopes for the future, and celebrated the journey they have taken as a family of schools.
The celebration featured prayer, music and joyful gathering, accompanied by a vibrant set of photographs capturing the spirit of the day. As teacher Amy McCormack reflected, the joint celebration was a moment of deep unity—one that brought pupils, staff, and communities together in gratitude.
St Monica’s Catholic Primary School, Bootle, showed Everton FC’s Jack Grealish their Pilgrims of Hope display when he came to visit a pupil in December. As headteacher James Gouldbourne explained, this pupil had gone through a lot of loss over the past few years, but “despite everything, he has been a real Pilgrim of Hope – showing a positive mindset everyday, and being a fantastic role model to others.”
At St Gerard’s, Jubilee celebrations have been woven through the rhythm of school life. Pupils deepened their understanding of the Church’s Year of Jubilee through:
St Gerard’s has shown what it means for a school to live the Jubilee as a year-long journey rooted in faith, learning, and service.
At Carleton House, pupils celebrated the Jubilee by:
The day was full of music, movement, prayer, and joy—captured in a short celebratory video made by the school.
Holy Spirit marked the Jubilee with a special celebration day, beautifully captured in photographs showing pupils joining together in prayer, learning and creative activities. The school community came together to reflect on what it means to be Pilgrims of Hope and to carry the Jubilee message forward.
On 21 November, English Martyrs Catholic Primary School transformed the entire school into a pilgrimage route. Pupils from Years 1–6 joined in mixed-age groups to pray, reflect, and take part in activities across classrooms, halls, the prayer garden, and the parish church.
A short highlight video captures the joy and sense of purpose of the day, concluding with a whole-school celebration in song. As Headteacher Lewis Dinsdale shared: “pupils took seriously Pope Francis’ call to be “Pilgrims of Hope,” taking action to make the world a better place”.
At St Clare’s, the school was decorated with balloons and streamers for a joyful Jubilee celebration. Pupils:
The day ended with a Celebration of the Word led by the school’s Faith Ambassadors.
At Euxton St Mary’s Catholic Primary School, the Jubilee Year has been a deeply lived journey shared by the whole community. To mark its close, the school released a reflective PowerPoint — set to their unique Mission Statement song — on their Facebook and X pages.
Throughout the year, hope has been woven into daily school life. Classrooms and corridors filled with Jubilee displays, artwork, and reflections told the ongoing story of a community growing together in faith. These displays weren’t just decoration — they were signposts showing how pupils have learned to live hope in practical, prayerful ways.
Pupils also reached far beyond their school through generous charity work, fundraising, and acts of service. In giving to others, they discovered the heart of pilgrimage: moving outward with compassion to bring light to the wider world.
Their Mission Statement song has been a joyful anthem throughout 2025 — a way of renewing their shared values each time they sing together.
Headteacher Sue Noblet expressed gratitude for the year’s journey and the generous spirit shown by pupils. Although the Jubilee concludes, the school continues its pilgrimage with confidence, taking the lessons of 2025 into the years ahead.
At St Jude’s Catholic Primary School, each month of the Jubilee Year was marked with a different act of hope.
In the summer, pupils wrote letters of hope to patients at Wigan Hospital and Alder Hey Children’s Hospital—one patient even phoned the school to say how much the message had lifted their spirits.
Later in the year, the children created a beautiful Gallery of Hope, painting portraits of people who inspire hope in their families and communities. Their classrooms also became places of reflection, with each class designing “Windows of Hope” inspired by Scripture.
On the school’s Jubilee Celebration Day, pupils brought their work together in Jubilee journals, capturing the actions they had taken across the year. A vibrant whole-school display now brings all of these elements together, showcasing St Jude’s collective pledge to walk as pilgrims of hope.
Each May, Holy Rosary Catholic Primary School holds a traditional May Procession, with the whole school, led by Fr Philip, processing through the streets to Holy Rosary Church, accompanied by parishioners, hymns and a statue of Our Lady.
This year, the procession took on special meaning as part of the Pilgrims of Hope Jubilee Year. Each year group explored a different Jubilee theme, including food poverty, rest, forgiveness, care for creation, managing debt, and modern slavery. Early Years pupils supported the local food bank, while Year 6 reflected on modern slavery through links with their History studies.
The children created a vibrant altar display in church for parishioners to enjoy, crowned Our Lady with flowers, led bidding prayers and sang hymns before processing back to school. Deputy Headteacher Mrs A Casey commented: “It was a very reverent and also joyous pilgrimage for our whole school and parish community.”
The St Peter’s Cluster (St Peter’s, St Cuthbert’s, St Teresa’s, St Marie’s, St Aidan’s, St Joseph’s, St James’, St Jude’s and St Bernadette’s) organised a powerful Jubilee event: a unified Pilgrims of Hope Prayer for Peace across all schools.
On 17 November, 2,602 children and adults prayed simultaneously using a shared liturgy created by pupils in each school’s Service Groups. Parishioners, governors, parish groups and the Seeds of Hope team all joined in. For many pupils, the sense of “being part of something bigger” was deeply moving.
St Teresa’s will continue sharing their prayer at the DOVES Take Over Mass on 30 November, helping to carry the Jubilee message into Advent.
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As part of the Jubilee’s call to care for God’s creation, pupils from Carmel College and 22 secondary schools joined two Mock COP30 climate conferences. Guided by Pope Francis’ Laudato Si’ and Laudate Deum, young people represented nations from around the world, debating climate justice, sustainability, and what meaningful action looks like today.
Hosted by St Margaret Clitherow Centre and Hope Academy, the conferences included workshops on:
The events empowered pupils to speak with courage and clarity—offering their hopes and solutions for the future of our planet.
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The following places of worship were named as designated pilgrimage churches (where the faithful, on making a pilgrimage to these churches, can obtain a plenary indulgence) by Archbishop Malcolm McMahon OP.
Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King
St Mary of the Isle, Isle of Man
St Anne and Blessed Dominic, St Helens
St Oswald and St Edmund Arrowsmith, Aston and Makerfield
St Mary’s, Chorley
St Mary’s Shrine, Warrington
St Mary’s Public Oratory, Aughton
To mark the Jubilee Year 2025, Pilgrims of Hope, CAFOD commissioned a special Jubilee Icon from Ethiopian artist Mulugeta Araya. Ethiopia was chosen both for its deep heritage of sacred iconography and as a reminder that the Jubilee is a global celebration, uniting the Church worldwide.
The icon is inspired by Jesus’ proclamation in Luke 4:16–21, where he reads from the scroll of Isaiah and announces “the year of the Lord’s favour.” This passage speaks of healing, liberation and good news for the poor—central themes of the Jubilee. Araya’s icon invites prayer and reflection by visually interpreting this moment, reminding us of Pope Francis’ call for Christians to be tangible signs of hope to all who face hardship, poverty or oppression.
The icon is inspired by Jesus’ proclamation in Luke 4:16–21, where he reads from the scroll of Isaiah and announces “the year of the Lord’s favour.” This passage speaks of healing, liberation and good news for the poor—central themes of the Jubilee. Araya’s icon invites prayer and reflection by visually interpreting this moment, reminding us of Pope Francis’ call for Christians to be tangible signs of hope to all who face hardship, poverty or oppression.
The icon is rich with symbolism which deepens its message:
1. A diverse crowd of men, women and children—young and old—gathers to listen to Jesus. Their attentive gaze reflects the openness of all people to the Word of God.
2. Jesus looks outward, his gaze extending beyond the scene to the whole world. His teaching is timeless and universal.
3. A person using a stick stands in the foreground, symbolising Jesus’ care for those who are often overlooked: the elderly, vulnerable, or those living with disabilities.
4. The golden halo signifies Christ’s divinity. In place of gold leaf—unavailable due to local instability—Araya used paint, a reminder of the resilience and hope at the heart of the Jubilee message.
5. Jesus’ raised right hand shows him actively teaching and proclaiming the Good News.
6. A leather Bible bag, traditional in Ethiopia, highlights reverence for Scripture.
7. The words of Isaiah are written in Ge’ez, the ancient Ethiopian liturgical language.
8. A rainbow arcs across the scene, symbolising God’s covenant and the hope of liberation that bridges Old and New Testaments.
9. A brick wall hints at the separation between synagogue and world—yet in this icon Jesus stands in an open space, inviting all people to encounter the Good News on equal terms.
You can find out more about the Jubilee icon here:
As part of its journey around the dioceses of England and Wales, the Jubilee Icon visited the Archdiocese of Liverpool from Tuesday 28 October to Wednesday 10 November. During its stay, parishes and communities gathered in prayer and reflection, welcoming the Icon as a sign of hope and unity ahead of the Jubilee Year.
Tradition dictates that each Jubilee is proclaimed through the publication of a Papal (or Pontifical) ‘Bull of Indiction’. By ‘Bull’ is meant an official document, generally written in Latin, bearing the seal of the Pope, the shape of which gives its name to the document itself.
In the past, the seal was usually made of lead, and bore on the front the image of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, founders of the Church of Rome, and on the back, the name of the current Pontiff. Later, an ink stamp replaced the metal seal, which, however, continued to be used for more important documents.
This year’s Jubilee logo is rich with imagery that can help you to understand the meaning of the Jubilee.
Father Simon Gore explains: “The logo shows a group of people travelling together, reminding young people that they’re never alone on their journey of faith and will always have support in their faith communities.
There's also the symbol of the wave, a reminder of the potential difficulties of being a follower of Christ in the modern age. But most importantly, there's the anchor – the anchor of hope – to show that no matter the difficulty, we can always find hope and comfort in our faith.”
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