The official opening of the Franciscan Jubilee in the Holy Land has taken place in a subdued form, within a context marked by war that continues to disrupt daily life and the pastoral activities of the Custody.

The celebration, initially planned in a solemn manner, included a procession from the top of the Mount of Olives to Gethsemane and the participation of the Ministers General of the Order of Friars Minor and the Friars Minor Capuchin, who were to arrive from Rome, but had to be scaled down due to security regulations. Despite the limitations, the established date, Monday, March 23, 2026, was maintained as a concrete sign of the determination not to renounce living this time of grace.

The opening of the Jubilee took place at the Church of Saint Savior in Jerusalem, the heart of the life of the Custody, in the presence of a small number of friars. A simple celebration, yet rich in meaning, which strongly expressed the fidelity of the Franciscan Family to its vocation even in the most difficult circumstances.

In a message sent for the occasion to all the friars of the Custody, the Custos of the Holy Land, Fr. Francesco Ielpo, had already emphasized, a few days earlier, how the ongoing conflict has "profoundly disrupted all pastoral, liturgical, educational and community planning", imposing a constant confrontation with the unpredictability of events, the sense of helplessness and the burden of uncertainty. And yet, precisely within this context, the Jubilee of the eight hundredth anniversary of the blessed passing of Saint Francis of Assisi presents itself as an opportunity to reread the present in the light of faith.

"The coincidence of this centenary with the time we are living can become a grace," writes the Custos, "if it helps us to read the present with the same eyes as Francis," capable of recognizing the action of God even in the most dramatic situations.

Due to the impossibility of traveling, the Minister General of the Friars Minor, Fr. Massimo Fusarelli, sent his contribution through a video message, which was listened to by the friars present as a sign of communion with the entire Order spread throughout the world. His words left a strong message to the friars of the Custody and all those who, with courage and fidelity, remain in a wounded land and go through conflicts without surrendering to the logic of violence.

The celebration was attended by some significant representatives of the local Church and the Franciscan Family, the new Apostolic Nuncio, Msgr. Giorgio Lingua, who had just arrived in the Holy Land, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, a Friar Minor, who shared a profound meditation with those present. Also present was a small delegation of the Friars Minor Capuchin of the Jerusalem fraternity and Fr. Francesco Ravaioli, a Friar Minor Conventual, the only representative of the Conventual community, currently engaged in a pastoral experience in the Diocese of Jerusalem.

The celebration, despite its simplicity, made it clear that the Jubilee is not simply a commemorative event, but a time of conversion and renewal. In a time marked by violence and divisions, the figure of Saint Francis continues to indicate the path of peace that is born from a life reconciled with God.

The Franciscan greeting, "The Lord give you peace," resounds today with particular intensity in the Holy Land, where peace appears fragile and distant, but remains the greatest gift to be received and witnessed.

The decision not to further postpone the opening of the Jubilee was a gesture full of spiritual value, an invitation to live the Lord’s Easter in the concrete conditions of the present, without waiting for better times, but recognizing that it is precisely within trial that faith is called to become more essential.

As Saint Francis recalled at the end of his life, "Let us begin, brothers, to serve the Lord God, for until now we have done little or nothing." Words that today resound as a timely appeal for the friars of the Custody and for the entire Franciscan Family, to begin again each day, even in the midst of difficulties, with renewed fidelity to the Gospel.

In the Holy Land, where the memory of the mysteries of salvation is preserved in the concrete places of the incarnation, the passion and the resurrection of the Lord, the celebration of this Jubilee takes on an even deeper meaning. Even in precariousness and trial, the prayer of the friars continues to be a living presence of the Church and a silent proclamation of the Gospel.

Thus, in a church without faithful, with a reduced representation of friars, but full of faith, a jubilee year has begun that invites everyone to look beyond the darkness of the present, in the paschal certainty that Christ, the Lord of life, is alive and continues to act in history.