Welcome to the shrine dedicated to Maria Theotokos, in Loppiano!

You have entered a Jubilee Church, that is, a place of pilgrimage where you can receive a Jubilee indulgence.

‘Pilgrims of Hope’

The slogan chosen by Pope Francis for the Jubilee of 2025 is ‘Pilgrims of Hope’. ‘Pilgrims’ because the Jubilee calls us to set out on a journey, to overcome obstacles and boundaries that are not only external but also internal, intimate. Setting out on a journey means transforming ourselves. The pilgrimage is an experience of conversion, a change of heart, a change of direction to re-orientate our existence towards God.

Do not be like superficial sightseers, blind to the beauty around you, never discovering the meaning of the roads you take, interested only in a few fleeting moments to capture in a selfie. Tourists do this. Pilgrims, on the other hand, immerse themselves fully in the places they encounter, listen to the message they communicate, and make them a part of their quest for happiness and fulfilment. The Jubilee pilgrimage is meant to be the outward sign of an inward journey that all of us are called to make towards our final destination.

From Pope Francis’ message for the 39th World Youth Day.

A Jubilee Church

In a letter dated 18 December 2024, Rt Rev Stefano Manetti, Bishop of Fiesole, declared that the shrine of Maria Theotokos in Loppiano is a Jubilee church, that is, a place of pilgrimage where it is possible to receive plenary or Jubilee indulgence. Read the letter

What is plenary indulgence?

A plenary indulgence is a special grace granted by the Catholic Church, which allows people to obtain total remission of temporal punishment due to sin. It can be compared to the cure that a doctor offers a patient. When we sin, our soul is left with scars of sin, even after forgiveness: we are in God’s grace, but the habit of sinning can remain. The plenary indulgence completely removes these scars, healing the soul and preparing it for a new life, free from the signs of sin. Like a doctor who not only treats the illness but also its consequences, the indulgence offers total healing.

This is how Bishop Stefano Manetti, defines it:

What is the Jubilee?

In the Catholic tradition, the Jubilee is the year of the remission of sins and punishment for sins, it is the year of reconciliation between disputants, of conversion and sacramental penance and, consequently, of solidarity, hope, justice, commitment to the service of God in joy and peace with our brothers. The Jubilee year is above all the year of Christ, the bearer of life and grace to humanity.

The first Jubilee was proclaimed in 1300 by Pope Boniface VIII, with an initial frequency of 100 years, later reduced to 50 and finally established every 25 years.

Its origins are linked to the Old Testament. The law of Moses established a special year for the Jewish people: ‘You shall declare the fiftieth year to be a jubilee; and you shall proclaim a release throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you’ (Book of Leviticus). The trumpet used to announce this special year was a ram’s horn, which in Hebrew is called ‘Yobel’, from which the word ‘Jubilee’ derives. The celebration of this year involved, among other things, the resting of the land (for which sowing and harvesting were forbidden), the restitution of the land to its original owner, when a rich man had taken possession of it, and the liberation of the slaves.

The Jubilee of Hope

“Everyone hopes. In the heart of every person hope is enclosed as desire and expectation of good, even without knowing what tomorrow will bring. The unpredictability of the future, however, gives rise to feelings that are sometimes opposed: from trust to fear, from serenity to discouragement, from certainty to doubt. We often meet people who are discouraged, who look to the future with scepticism and pessimism, as if nothing could bring them happiness. May the Jubilee be an opportunity for everyone to rekindle hope.

Pope Francis, Spes non confundit, 9 May 2024

Pope Francis hopes that the Jubilee 2025 will enable each person to regain ‘the strength and certainty to look to the future with an open mind, a confident heart, and a forward-looking mind’, contributing to the ‘rebuilding of a climate of hope and trust’ in our societies.

He explains in his letter in preparation for the Jubilee (11 February 2022): ‘All this will be possible, however, if we are able to recover a sense of universal fraternity, if we do not close our eyes to the drama of rampant poverty which prevents millions of men, women, young people and children from living in a way worthy of human beings’.

The invitation is to combine the spiritual dimension of the Jubilee, which implies conversion, with the aspects of social life, in order to be reborn as people who are united and in harmony: ‘We need to learn how to use three languages together: that of the head, the heart and the hands. In other words, we need to learn how to think well, feel well and act well!’ (Loppiano, 10 May 2018).

Finally, Pope Francis also links the Jubilee to our relationship with Creation: ‘As we consider ourselves pilgrims on earth, where the Lord has placed us to cultivate and protect it (cf. Gen 2:15), let us not forget to contemplate the beauty of creation along our way and to take good care of our common home’.

Let us not return home by the same road!

In the Bull of Indiction of the Jubilee, the Pope invites us all, having received the grace of God’s mercy, ‘to be tangible signs of hope for so many brothers and sisters who live in difficult conditions.

Many areas of action are suggested: the promotion of peace, of life, the care of the sick, the elderly, prisoners, migrants, exiles, refugees, displaced persons, the poor.

A warm invitation is extended to take care, with renewed passion, ‘of children, students, engaged couples, the younger generation!’, because they are the ‘joy and hope of the Church and of the world!’.

Let this be our resolution!

For further reading

Read the Bull of Indiction of the Jubilee 2025

Read the brochure with some biblical, historical and pastoral insights offered by Bishop Manetti for living the Jubilee

Listen to the podcast ‘Gocce di speranza’ (Drops of Hope) dedicated to the Jubilee by Redi Maghenzani: