Extraordinary Jubilee

The last extraordinary Jubilee was that of 2015 wanted by Pope Francis. The extraordinary Jubilee, unlike the ordinary one which takes place cyclically every 25 years, is announced in the event of events of particular importance.

Before the 2015 Jubilee it was John Paul II who addressed one in 1983 on the nineteen hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the death and resurrection of Jesus and was dedicated to redemption.

The 2015 Jubilee was announced on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the end of the Second Vatican Council and was dedicated to Mercy. Called by Pope Francis with the papal bull Misericordiae Vultus, it began on 8 December 2015 and ended on 20 November 2016.

Before the start of the Jubilee, on November 29, Pope Francis opened the holy door of the Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Bangui as a sign of the closeness of the universal Church to the Central African Republic, which had been hit by the violence of the civil war.

On December 8, 2015, the holy door of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican was opened. It was the first opening of the holy door in the presence of two popes: the Pope emeritus (Benedict XVI) and the reigning Pope (Francis).

In the following weeks the holy doors of the other major basilicas of Rome were opened (San Giovanni in Laterano, San Paolo fuori le mura and Santa Maria Maggiore) and the various cathedrals or Jubilee shrines in the other dioceses of the world were opened by their respective bishops.