THE DIOCESE OF ORANGE is celebrating the Catholic Church’s worldwide 2025 Jubilee Year beginning on Dec. 29 with a special Mass at Christ Cathedral in Garden Grove and blessing of the Year of Hope Cross.
The Mass, which begins at 9 a.m., will be celebrated by Bishop Kevin Vann.
The Year of Hope Cross will serve as a local pilgrimage site and the center of the Orange County’s celebration of the 2025 Jubilee Year, which the Catholic Church celebrates every 25 years. The Jubilee Year is an invitation for all to rediscover God’s presence in their lives and renew their trust in His promises.
The Year of Hope Cross will have a specially designed logo featuring various symbolic touches specific to Orange County, such as an orange tree, Our Lady of Guadalupe (patroness of the Diocese of Orange) and St. Junípero Serra (patron of the Diocese of Orange and founder of Mission San Juan Capistrano).
The Church will be also offering plenary indulgences — special graces that remove the temporal effects of sin and deepen experiences of God’s love and mercy — to those who visit the Year of Hope Cross or another designated site. They must also go to confession, receive the Eucharist, pray for intentions of the Pope and perform an act of mercy or charity.
As part of the 2025 Jubilee Year, the Holy See encourages all who are able to make pilgrimages to Holy Doors in Rome. The Pope will open several Holy Doors, including the one at St. Peter’s Basilica that is only opened at the beginning of a Jubilee Year. That will occur on Dec. 24, signaling the start of the worldwide jubilee.
Pope Francis’ chosen motto for the 2025 celebration is “Pilgrims of Hope.”
The Holy Year of 2025 will be the 27th ordinary jubilee year of the Catholic Church, with an exception being “extraordinary” jubilees that first came in 16th century and fall outside the 25-year rotation. The last extraordinary jubilee was the 2015-16 Jubilee of Mercy.
The worldwide Jubilee Year formally concludes in Rome on the Solemnity of Epiphany on Jan. 6, 2026. In the Diocese of Orange, it will conclude on Dec. 28, 2025.
For more information on the 2025 Jubilee Year, Year of Hope Cross, pilgrimages, indulgences and more, visit www.rcbo.org/hope
THE YEAR OF HOPE CROSS
For the Year of Hope Cross that is part of the Diocese of Orange’s celebration of the 2025 Jubilee Year, a special image has been created. Inspired by icons of the Ascension of Christ and Christ Pantocrator, the image depicts Christ in His glory as the central figure of the Church’s Body.
At the center of the image, Christ, as head of the Church, holds the crest of the Diocese of Orange in His left hand, signifying His authority and protection over the Diocese’s mission of spreading the Gospel. Around Him is the cross, originating from Christ and extending to all within the circle surrounding the image. This cross represents the Tree of Life, depicted as an orange tree, with branches bearing fruit that symbolize the true vine. The branches embody shelter, refuge, home and life in the Diocese of Orange. The circle surrounding the entire icon symbolizes the consecrated bread of Christ’s Body. Below the cross are the patrons of the Diocese:
Our Lady of Guadalupe on the left and St. Junípero Serra on the right. They stand on either side of Christ, serving as mediators of grace and symbolizing hope for the 2025 Jubilee Year. Our Lady of Guadalupe is portrayed pregnant with Christ, clothed in stars, with the moon under her f eet and arrayed with the sun around her. St. Junípero Serra is depicted wearing his Franciscan cloaked habit, holding up a mission to Christ as an offering. There is a crossed staff leaning on his chest.
These two figures represent the guardians who have nurtured and shaped the Diocese’s community. Positioned on the outer ring, both patrons serve as mediators of Christ’s grace for the Church’s body.