On the third day of the annual spiritual retreat of the Latin Patriarchate priests in Jordan, Director of the Catholic Center for Studies and Media in Jordan Fr. Dr. Rif’at Bader held a meeting on Wednesday, October 30, 2024  that addressed the Jubilee Year 2025, which is scheduled to be officially launched on Christmas eve, under the slogan: "Pilgrims of Hope".

During the meeting attended by priests in addition to main lecturer Monsignor Khaled Akasheh, bureau chief for Islam at the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, Fr. Bader touched at the outset of his address on the historical framework for celebrating the Jubilee as a holy year starting in the Old Testament and then proceeding to the history of the Catholic Church with the first Jubilee in 1300 including Pope Boniface VIII, until the issuance made by Pope Francis declaring 2025 a Jubilee Year with the theme, “Hope does not disappoint.” 

Fr. Bader referred to the signs of the Jubilee, namely pilgrimage, the Holy Door, reconciliation, prayer, liturgy, declaration of faith, and forgiveness. He said obtaining full penance during the Jubilee Year 2025, believers must meet certain specific conditions set by the Church, including confession, receiving the Holy Communion, praying for the intentions of the Pontiff, doing good deeds, pilgrimage to holy places, and rejecting sin.

Regarding how priests should live the Jubilee Year, whether on a personal or pastoral level, Fr. Bader presented some points, namely having homilies and lectures dealing with the importance of the Jubilee in the spiritual procession; taking care of the hours of prostration and solemn confessions; organizing pilgrimage trips to holy places in Jordan, Palestine, and Rome; and holding joint Jubilee celebrations, including  holding a spiritual conference that priests supervise. He pointed out that throughout the Jubilee Year, special celebrations will be held in the Vatican termed as "Jubilee Days" that include all categories, groups, and believers in the Church.

Fr. Bader also touched on the Jubilee slogan, the official anthem translated into Arabic by hymn singer Rabab Zaytoun, the Jubilee mascot “Luce – Light”, and the ecumenical event marking 1700th anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea. The meeting concluded with the special Jubilee prayer written by Pope Francis.