The Jubilee 2025 in Rome
We find ourselves on the brink of the year 2025, which in Rome is a time of great celebration: it will be the year of the Jubilee or Holy Year. What is the significance of the Jubilee year from a biblical perspective? What does Jubilee mean?
The origin of the biblical Jubilee goes back to the time of the founder of the nation of Israel. Moses established for Israel, by divine order, a certain number of periodic festivities, particularly two celebrations that were to be observed with a multi-year rhythm: the sabbatical year and the Jubilee.
In the New Testament, there is no mention of the word Jubilee. The Seventy, who were 72 (6 from each of the tribes of Israel), are thought to have been the translators of the Old Testament from Aramaic to Greek. This word would be a sacred cultic derivation (the celebration of the jubilee year begins with the sound of a ram’s horn on a specific date and in connection with the solemnity of Yom Kippur, that is, the Atonement of Israel’s sin), which transforms into an ethical, moral, and existential concept: the remission of debts, the liberation of slaves (which was the essence of the jubilee). Thus, the theme of jubilee shifts from a liturgical act to a language and ethical-social experience. This aspect is relevant today, as we stand on the threshold of a new jubilee, to ensure that the Christian jubilee is not reduced to mere celebration or ritual but transformed into a paradigm of Christian life.
The origins of the word jubilee are varied; some say it derives from the Greek word áphesis, meaning “remission.” Other scholars assert that in Phoenician, which for some is like the elder sister of Hebrew, the three consonants that form the basis of the word jobel—that is, “jbl”—indicate the word for goat and that the sound of the horn marks sacred time.
The fundamental aspect of the jubilee for the Catholic Church is that it should not be viewed merely as a rite but must deeply influence the existence of a people. It should constitute a concrete act, a promise, a utopian sign, a vision directed toward a different way of living.
The Rest for the Land
In ancient times, this meant letting the land rest, not sowing or harvesting fruits, and overcoming private and tribal ownership so that everyone could take from the land what it offered without borders or barriers. It involves abandoning the universal availability of goods typical of private property. In this context, Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato si is suggestive.
The Remission of Debts and the Restoration of Land
The second theme of the jubilee was the remission of debts and the restoration of land sold or seized. In biblical vision, land was a possession of the tribe or clan families, not individuals. If a family lost its land, with the jubilee celebrated every 50 years, the map of land would be reconstructed according to God’s established division through divine donation among Israel’s tribes. This also applied to debts so that at the end of the jubilee period, everyone would find themselves equal with few possessions. After fifty years, it was decided to return to square one to achieve an absolute, ideal, and utopian communion of goods equitably.
The Liberation of Slaves
The third structural theme of the biblical jubilee was the liberation of slaves. The book of Ezekiel (46:17) speaks of a year of emancipation, redemption, and liberation from slavery and discrimination. It is an ideal proposal aimed at abolishing one group’s oppression over another.
As Cardinal and biblical scholar Gianfranco Ravasi states, the theme of Jubilee is more relevant today than ever: “We could think of all those peoples who are practically slaves to superpowers because they are unable to be arbiters of their own destiny due to their debts; the activities of certain multinational corporations often represent a true form of economic tyranny that oppresses some nations and societies. The resonance of the word freedom has great significance even in our time and has also considered the call for inner liberation. One can indeed be externally free but internally enslaved by invisible chains, such as social conditions characterized by mass communication, superficiality, and vulgarity in information.”
We find ourselves at the threshold of a new Jubilee in Rome; let us not annul biblical teaching but transform it into an act of love and commitment toward those around us.
