Jubilee Isn’t Just for Catholics

EVERY 25 YEARS the global Catholic Church celebrates a Jubilee — and this is one of those years. Jubilee years are rooted in the biblical tradition from Leviticus, in which God mandates that slaves and prisoners be freed, debts forgiven, the land and creatures given rest, and relationships with our neighbors and with God set right. Pope Francis’ chosen theme for 2025 is “Pilgrims of Hope.” What does this mean for all of us, Catholic or not, who stand in the biblical tradition? Many of us, myself included, feel anxiety about what the next four years will bring. President Trump’s rhetoric and policies will likely result in attacks on immigrants, restrictions on LGBTQ+ people, heightened racial tensions, increased economic chaos, and dismantling advances in slowing climate change. Not just Americans are anxious. These actions impact people around the world.

Despite this political atmosphere, I’m seeking to embrace a resilient hope for the future, which can serve as a bulwark against despair and powerlessness. Tangible signs of hope are out there — and will become even more evident as we act together to protect the most vulnerable, including our endangered planet. An important way we could live the Jubilee Year call to right relationship is to replicate a major victory of the 2000 Jubilee — forgive debt owed by Global South nations so these funds can be used there for health, education, and other investments in human flourishing. I also find hope when strange bedfellows cooperate to advance shared causes. For example, despite my strong disagreements with the Freedom Caucus in Congress, they are right when they express concerns about out-of-control military spending. We should work to build alliances across traditional ideological and party lines to help Congress cut wasteful Pentagon spending, which crowds out funding for programs of social uplift.

I hope Trump’s victory will be a much-needed wake-up call to U.S. churches that have failed to address the Christian nationalist ideology threatening the witness of the church and our democracy. It was easy to see Trump’s 2016 victory as a fluke enabled by the quirks of the Electoral College and Hillary Clinton’s unpopularity. His unambiguous victory in 2024 may be the bitter medicine that finally spurs more churches to counter the nationalist extremism growing in our midst. A surge of congregations courageously protecting members of their communities targeted by the new administration would also help rehabilitate the image of the church and provide a living witness of the gospel call in Matthew 25 to serve and defend the vulnerable.

This may not sound like fertile ground in which to grow hope. The next four years will be challenging. But ultimately our faith as Christians is because God first loved us. God calls on us to love God back through the long struggle for justice and peace — to build societies in which all may thrive as God intends. As we continue the good, even joyful work of justice in solidarity with those most marginalized by our society, let us be “pilgrims of hope,” keeping our eyes on the gracious jubilee of God who has set us free — and let that hope shine like an inextinguishable flame in whatever darkness may lie ahead.