The Jubilee year acclaims that the source of all hope is God’s mercy, says Bishop Iffert

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Laura Keener

Editor

As instructed by Pope Francis and together with archdioceses and dioceses around the world, Bishop John Iffert and over 300 faithful of the Diocese of Covington celebrated Mass and the opening of the Jubilee Year 2025, “Pilgrims of Hope,” Dec. 29, at the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption, Covington. The Jubilee Year officially began on Christmas Eve with Pope Francis opening the Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.

In accordance with ancient tradition, the Church celebrates an ordinary Jubilee — a year to forgive sins, debts and extend universal pardon — every 25 years so that every generation may experience that moment of grace and mercy in their life. In the Bull of Indiction, “Spes Non Confundit” (“Hope Does Not Disappoint”), Pope Francis said that “Hope is also the central message of the coming Jubilee … For everyone, may the Jubilee be a moment of genuine, personal encounter with the Lord Jesus, the ‘door’ (cf. Jn 10:7.9) of our salvation, whom the Church is charged to proclaim always, everywhere and to all as ‘our hope’ (1 Tim 1:1).” Pope Francis will close the Holy Door and the Jubilee Year will end Jan. 6, 2026, the solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord.

At the Cathedral’s opening Mass, representatives from each parish of the diocese processed through the Cathedral carrying their parish banner as a sign of the journey of hope of the pilgrim people. To begin the procession, near the threshold of the Cathedral, Bishop Iffert elevated the designated Jubilee Cross three times with the congregation proclaiming, “We adore your Cross, O Lord, we praise and glorify your holy Resurrection, for behold, because of the wood of a tree, joy has come to the whole world.”

During the opening procession, which included many priests of the Diocese, Bishop Iffert sprinkled the congregation with Holy Water, “a living remembrance of Baptism which is the gate of entry in the journey of sacramental initiation and into the Church.” (The Rite of the Opening of the Jubilee Year) The procession ended with the Jubilee Cross being placed in a stand to the altar’s left and will remain there during the entire Jubilee year.

Focusing on the Jubilee theme “Pilgrims of Hope,” Bishop Iffert began his homily saying, “Hope, we know, is the theological virtue, that supernatural virtue, by which we desire and expect from God both eternal life and the grace we need to obtain eternal life … the theological virtue of hope protects us both from despair and from the sin of presumption,” the sin of expecting salvation without making the necessary effort to obtain it.

There are two “kinds of knowledge” that are needed to “really engage with and live in this virtue of hope,” said Bishop Iffert. The first is the knowledge that the goal is attainable. “We have to know that eternal life with God is obtainable. That God has made this possible through His death on the cross for our salvation … If we don’t know that our goals are obtainable, we won’t have any reason to work for them.”

“Our goal is obtainable because God’s mercy is indulgent,” Bishop Iffert said. “Our goal of eternal life, and our hope even for life in this world, is obtainable only because we know that God is reliable. We know that God is trustworthy. We know that God is merciful.”

The second knowledge, Bishop Iffert said, is “to know that we might fail, in fact, the sinfulness of our lives, the sinfulness of our human nature, our tendency towards sin inclines us towards failure. It is only through God’s grace — that solid place — where we can expect success in our endeavor.”

The message of the Jubilee, Bishop Iffert said, is “God’s mercy is indulgent. God’s mercy is abundant. God’s mercy is prodigious. This Jubilee year is a reminder to all of us that God is eager to pour that mercy out on us. That mercy alone, that grace of God, that action of God, on our part, is the fulcrum where the lever of faith can be applied, the steady place, the source of all our hope.”

Bishop Iffert names three local churches as sacred sites for Jubilee 2025

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Staff Report

With every Jubilee year, the Pope grants the faithful the opportunity to receive indulgences. In the Decree for the Granting of the Indulgence During the Ordinary Jubilee Year 2025, Pope Francis calls the indulgence “a Jubilee grace.”

The gift of the indulgence, Pope Francis says, “is a way of discovering the unlimited nature of God’s mercy. Not by chance, for the ancients, the terms ‘mercy’ and ‘indulgence’ were interchangeable, as expressions of the fullness of God’s forgiveness, which knows no bounds” (Spes Non Confundit, 23).

For the 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope, Pope Francis has declared three ways the faithful may obtain a Jubilee indulgence — by making a pilgrimage, through performing works of mercy and penance and by visiting sacred sites designated by the local bishop.

“…the faithful can obtain the Jubilee Indulgence if, individually or in a group, they devoutly visit any Jubilee site and there, for a suitable period of time, engage in Eucharistic adoration and meditation, concluding with the Our Father, the Profession of Faith in any legitimate form, and invocations to Mary, the Mother of God.” (Decree for the Granting of the Indulgence During the Ordinary Jubilee Year 2025)

In the Diocese of Covington, Bishop John Iffert has designated three churches as sacred sites where pilgrims can visit and receive the Jubilee indulgence (see decree below). They are the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption, Covington; St. John the Evangelist Church, Carrollton and St. Patrick Church, Maysville.

The Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption is the Mother Church of the Diocese of Covington. The Cathedral is open for visitors Monday–Friday, 9 a.m.–3 p.m.; Saturday 10 a.m.–4:30 p.m. Mass and Sunday 11:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m. Mass. Pilgrims visiting the Cathedral will find the Jubilee Cross, which will be displayed during every Mass throughout the Jubilee year.

St. John the Evangelist Church is the Diocese’s western-most church. St. John the Evangelist Parish was established in 1854. Its current church building took 14 years to build and was dedicated on June 25, 1916, by Bishop Ferdinand Brossart. The gothic structure was designed by Leon Coquared, the same architect that designed Covington’s Cathedral, and has been fondly referred to as “the cathedral in the cornstalks.” Mass times at St. John the Evangelist Church are: Saturday 4:30 p.m.; Sunday 9:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Spanish (11:30 a.m. during summer); Monday and Wednesday 6:30 p.m.; Tuesday and Thursday 6:45 a.m. and 8:00 a.m.; Friday noon. Adoration with closing Benediction is held Wednesdays, 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. and First Friday, 11 a.m. to noon.

St. Patrick Parish, Maysville, was established in 1847 and predates the establishment of the Diocese of Covington (1853). The current St. Patrick Church building was dedicated June 26, 1910, by Bishop William Maes. Mass times at St. Patrick Church are: Saturday 8 a.m., 5:15 p.m.; Sunday 8 a.m., 11 a.m., 1p.m. (Spanish); Monday thru Friday 8 a.m. Adoration is held Wednesdays, 8:30 a.m.–6 p.m.

Bishop Iffert blesses new building for Catholic Charities supportive housing

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Maura Baker

Staff Writer

On a chilly morning, December 19, friends of Catholic Charities and residents of its St. Joseph supportive housing came together for a blessing by Bishop John Iffert of a new building on the premises. Built with the skills of parishioners of St. Pius parish, Edgewood, the space will be used as additional storage for residents, as well as a communal space and office space for case workers.

The St. Joseph supportive housing consists of two apartment buildings in Elsmere, which are owned and operated by Catholic Charities of Northern Kentucky. The apartments provide permanent housing to individuals and families in need, as well as case support to help them achieve stability.

Bishop Iffert quoted Pope Francis as he prepared for the blessing, paraphrasing that “When we spend time with a neighbor who needs our help, we are making a pilgrimage to encounter the face of Christ in our daily lives.” Afterward, he thanked the work of Catholic Charities, and the hospitality of the residents of the apartments for welcoming him.