Pope Leo XIV has called on all Christians to work together toward the celebration of 2033, when the Catholic Church will mark an extraordinary Jubilee Year commemorating 2000 years since the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Source: OSV News.
The Pope expressed this hope during an audience yesterday with an Orthodox delegation from the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, who travelled to Rome for the June 29 feast of Sts Peter and Paul and joined Pope Leo for prayer at the tomb of St Peter in the crypt beneath St Peter’s Basilica at the end of the papal Mass for the feast day.
“Your presence amongst us expresses the fraternal closeness of our sister Church in Constantinople and of its shepherd and guide, His All Holiness Bartholomew, Ecumenical Patriarch,” the Pope told the delegation.
“I once again express my heartfelt gratitude for this visit, as well as for your personal commitment and that of the Ecumenical Patriarchate to promoting the holy cause of Christian unity,” he said.
Pope Leo used the meeting to look ahead to 2033, when the Church will observe a Jubilee year marking two millennia since the passion, death and resurrection of Christ. He expressed hope that the milestone could become a shared moment for all Christians.
“May the journey towards the celebration of the second millennium of the Redemption in 2033 be undertaken together by all the Christian denominations of the world, rediscovering the gift and the call to be witnesses to the Risen One,” he said.
The Pope’s remarks build on a vision he first laid out publicly during his first international trip, to Turkey and Lebanon, in November when he told Christian leaders in Turkey that he hoped they might gather in Jerusalem in 2033 to mark the anniversary together – specifically in the Cenacle, the traditional site of the Last Supper, where Jesus washed his disciples’ feet, and which is also venerated as the site of Pentecost, according to the Holy See Press Office.
Pope Leo pointed to last year’s commemoration of the 1700th anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea as an example of an anniversary that was marked jointly by Catholics, Orthodox and other Christian communities.
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Pope Leo calls all Christians to celebrate 2033 anniversary of Christ’s redemption together (By Courtney Mares, OSV News)
