Pope Leo has proclaimed a Franciscan Jubilee Year for the 800th anniversary of the death of St Francis of Assisi. The Pope has arranged that, from 10th January 2026 to 10th January 2027, the Year of St Francis will be celebrated, during which all the Christian faithful are invited to follow the example of the Saint of Assisi, becoming models of holiness of life and constant witnesses of peace.
The Apostolic Penitentiary grants the plenary indulgence under the usual conditions to those who participate devoutly in this extraordinary jubilee, which represents an ideal continuation of the Ordinary Jubilee of 2025.
The Franciscan Jubilee Year focuses on mercy, prayer and faith in action. The life of St Francis of Assisi shows that God’s mercy also works in history through people who have opened their hearts to His action. His life informs us that God’s grace can transform even the greatest weaknesses.
God’s mercy bestows grace to free the heart from the burden of sins in the sacrament of penance and reconciliation, therefore the Jubilee is an opportunity for the faithful to rekindle their faith, strengthen their relationship with God and with the community of the Church.
Similarly this Jubilee year can be an invitation to simplify prayer by deepening it, rather than multiplying it; to live the Gospel concretely rather than merely talking about it.
However, the Year of Saint Francis must not become another chapter full of special spiritual effects, but to gather inspiration from him to imitate Christ.
Pope Leo reminds us that the Year of Francis urges us all, each according to our own possibilities, to imitate the Poverello of Assisi, to mould ourselves as much as possible on the model of Christ, to not let the intentions of the Holy Year just passed be in vain; may the hope that saw us as pilgrims in the Jubilee year of hope now be transformed into zeal and fervour of active charity.