2026 is An Extraordinary Jubilee Year – Pope Leo XIV has announced as a continuation of last year’s Ordinary Jubilee, Pilgrims of Hope, a new, extraordinary Jubilee Year for 2026, The Year of St. Francis of Assisi, a celebration of the 800th anniversary of his death. This is a year is which all are called to become saints in the contemporary world following the example of St. Francis of Assisi, who was himself a model of holiness in life. This Jubilee Year invites us not only to honor this holy man, but to walk in his footsteps, rebuilding the Church through lives transformed by the Gospel. Pope Leo, in his Jubilee Decree, points out that Saint Francis, the son of a rich merchant, became poor and humble, providing the world with tangible examples of evangelical life and a real image of Christian perfection. “This Year of St. Francis spurs all of us, each according to our possibilities, to imitate the poor man of Assisi, to form ourselves as far as possible on the model of Christ,” Pope Leo said, adding that it is now time to transform the hope generated and shared in the last Jubilee Year of Hope into active charity.
