By Junno Arocho Esteves
(OSV News) – In his papal bull proclaiming the Jubilee Year, the late Pope Francis emphasized the theme of hope, a much-needed virtue in a time of uncertainty, war and tribulation.
Yet in “Spes Non Confundit” (“Hope Does Not Disappoint”), the pope unknowingly described what many Catholics would feel in the year to come.
“Everyone knows what it is to hope. In the heart of each person, hope dwells as the desire and expectation of good things to come, despite our not knowing what the future may bring,” he wrote.
While the intense monthly schedule of Jubilee events was worrisome, there was still the hope that the ailing pontiff would be able to participate.
However, those hopes were dashed once his health took a turn for the worse in February, and on April 21, just one day after delivering what would be his final Easter Sunday “urbi et orbi” blessing, Pope Francis died.
For Archbishop Rino Fisichella, organizer of the Jubilee 2025 events and pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization, the pope’s death “created a silence that was felt in the streets of Rome and the world, as well as in every Christian community.”
In an interview via email Dec. 3, Archbishop Fisichella told OSV News that it was in those days of mourning that “the motto of the Jubilee took on a different light.”
“The faithful understood that Christian hope is not a sentiment, but a promise,” he said.
Interregnum
Despite his ill health, Pope Francis’ death still came as a shock to many and triggered a series of events that occurred only once in the Catholic Church’s history.
The last time the death of a pope and the election of his successor occurred in a Jubilee Year was in 1700 with the death of Pope Innocent XII and the election of Pope Clement XI.
Aside from the uncertainty regarding who would be the next leader of the Catholic Church, Archbishop Fisichella acknowledged that it “was useless to deny” that the interregnum period caused “a certain objective difficulty.”
Alessandro Gisotti, deputy editorial director of Vatican Media, told OSV News Nov. 11 that the Jubilee faced challenges even before the pope’s death.
“When the pope was at Gemelli Hospital, the Jubilee continued, but without the pope, it was naturally more subdued,” Gisotti said.
For both Archbishop Fisichella and Gisotti, the death of Pope Francis and the conclave and election of Pope Leo XIV did not stop the Jubilee but instead redefined it.
Despite the demanding schedule, the archbishop added, “Pope Leo XIV accepted the calendar without fear and, from the beginning, chose to maintain the programmed Jubilee commitments.”
A door opened, a door closed
In December 2024, Pope Francis opened the Holy Door in St. Peter’s, marking the beginning of the Jubilee. The task of closing that door now falls to his successor, Pope Leo XIV.
For Archbishop Fisichella, the fact that Pope Francis would not be the one to end the Jubilee of Hope is one of “profound symbolic value.”
“Let this unfinished gesture become an invitation for every believer: The mission of the church never closes,” he said.
“Crossing the Holy Door means assuming the responsibility to bring hope where it is missing,” he said.
“The ‘Pilgrims of Hope’ return to their dioceses with a stronger sense of belonging and, above all, with the awareness that daily witness is the first place of evangelization.”
(Junno Arocho Esteves writes for OSV News from Malmö, Sweden.)
