The Holy Father announces a ‘Year of Prayer’ in preparation for the 2025 Jubilee

The Year of Prayer which Pope Francis inaugurated on Sunday, 21 January, ahead of the 2025 Jubilee, is dedicated “to rediscovering the great value and absolute need for prayer”, in personal life, in the life of the Church and in the world. The Holy See Press Office presented the Year of Prayer on Tuesday at a press conference held by Archbishop Rino Fisichella, Pro-Prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelisation, and Monsignor Graham Bell, Undersecretary of the Dicastery, whose Section is in charge of coordinating the Year of Prayer.

The Dicastery for Evangelization will release materials to help the faithful celebrate the Year, and underscored its availability to Bishops’ Conferences and Diocesan Jubilee representatives to provide further clarifications. Archbishop Fisichella presented the Dicastery’s readiness to support this Year of Prayer, saying the work to prepare for Holy Year 2025 continues. With the Holy Year approaching, pilgrims can learn more about the upcoming Jubilee Year at the Jubilee website www.iubilaeum2025.va, and through the App, said the Archbishop.

The Year of Prayer, Archbishop Fisichella noted, “is not a Year marked with particular initiatives; rather, it is a privileged time in which to rediscover the value of prayer and the need for daily prayer in our Christian life”. It is “a time to discover how to pray and, above all, how to educate the people of today in prayer, in this age of digital culture, so that prayer can be effective and fruitful”.

Prayer cannot be captured in a pre-established pattern, Archbishop Fisichella recognized, “because it is a manifestation of the believer’s personal relationship with God Himself within that intimate and exclusive relationship that distinguishes our faith”.

As Pope Francis writes in the introduction to the first volume of the “Notes on Prayer” series: “Prayer is the breath of faith; it is its most proper expression. Like a cry that issues from the heart of those who believe and entrust themselves to God”.