Only a few days after the closing of the Jubilee Year of 2025, Pope Leo announced a Special Jubilee Year of St. Francis to commemorate the 800 year anniversary of the beloved Italian Saints death.
In a recent letter to the Ministers General of the Conference of the Franciscan Family on January 7, Pope Leo spiritually unified himself with the religious order for this special time.
“In commemorating the significant anniversary of the eighth centenary of his passing, I wish to join spiritually with the entire Franciscan Family and with all those who will take part in the commemorative events, hoping that the message of peace may find a profound echo in the Church and society today.”
The Year of St. Francis constitutes an extraordinary jubilee year for the Church, different from an ordinary jubilee, such as the one just celebrated this past year.
Plenary indulgences are being granted until the conclusion of this holy year on January 10, 2027, to any pilgrim who visits a Franciscan conventual church or any “place of worship” associated with St. Francis. All other usual criteria for obtaining a plenary indulgence apply.
To make this jubilee even more special, the remains of St. Francis will be on public display for veneration—during February and March this year—for the first time in 800 years.
We recently sat down with a Franciscan friar, Friar Mike Lasky, where he shared a reflection for those making pilgrimage to Assisi in the next couple of months:
FRIAR MIKE
Order of Friars Minor, Conventual
For those coming to Assisi in Febuary and March, you're going to find the bones of St. Francis in front of the alter in the lower Basilica. With any saint or relics, the most important thing for us to remember is to think of them as being like my eyeglasses so to speak because without my eyeglasses, if I'm looking at the Lord, he's pretty blurry and I'm not seeing things right. But when I put Mary and the Saints on, then I can see clearly.
Tens of thousands of pilgrims are expected to make their way to Assisi this year for the exposition of St. Francis' remains. With the recent announcement of the Special Year of St. Francis now, hundreds of thousands could be expected.
