Jubilee Year of St. Francis
On Jan 10, His Holiness Pope Leo XIV established the Year of St. Francis of Assisi on the occasion of the 800th anniversary of the saint’s Transitus to Heaven.
The initiative was proclaimed through a Decree issued by the Apostolic Penitentiary of the Holy See, which states that from Jan 10, 2026, to Jan 10, 2027, it is possible to obtain a Plenary Indulgence, under the usual conditions, by making a pilgrimage to any Franciscan conventual church or place of worship dedicated to St. Francis anywhere in the world.
The Decree also establishes that the elderly, the sick, and those who, for serious reasons, are unable to leave their homes may obtain the Plenary Indulgence by spiritually joining the Jubilee celebrations and offering their prayers, sufferings, or hardships to God.
St. Francis Chapel
at Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcala is a pilgrim site for the Jubilee.
In this time of celebration that culminates eight hundred years of Franciscan memory, we cordially invite all the faithful to take an active part in this exceptional Jubilee. May the shining example of St. Francis, who knew how to make himself poor and humble in order to be true alter Christus on earth, inspire our hearts to live with authentic Christian charity towards our neighbor and with sincere longings for concord and peace among peoples. Following in the footsteps of the Poverello of Assisi, let us transform the hope that made us pilgrims during the Holy Year into fervor and zeal of effective charity. May this Year of St Francis be for each one of us a providential occasion for sanctification and evangelical witness in the contemporary world, for the glory of God and the good of the whole Church.
Conditions for receiving the Indulgence
(for oneself or for the deceased)
- Sacramental confession to be in God's grace (in the eight days before or after);
- Participation in Mass and Eucharistic Communion;
- To visit in the form of a pilgrimage any Franciscan conventual church or place of worship dedicated to St. Francis anywhere in the world, where one renews one's profession of faith, through the recitation of the Creed, to reaffirm one's Christian identity;
- The recitation of the Lord's Prayer, to reaffirm the dignity of children of God, received in Baptism;
- To pray for the intentions of the Holy Father, to reaffirm belonging to the Church, whose foundation and visible center of unity is the Roman Pontiff.
