Kampala Catholic Church jubilee year pilgrimage sites named
Traditionally, in the Catholic Church, the jubilee year is proclaimed every 25 years. It is a time of renewal, deep reflection and grace.
Archbishop Paul Ssemogerere (holding a crosier leading the solemn procession for the launching of the Jubilee Year at Lubaga Cathedral on December 29, 2024. (Photos by Mathias Mazinga)
NewVision Reporter
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Catholics all over the world are observing the Jubilee Year of Hope (2025).
The year was officially launched by Pope Francis through the symbolic act of opening the Holy Door of St Peter’s Basilica in Rome on Christmas Eve (December 24, 2024). Traditionally, in the Catholic Church, the jubilee year is proclaimed every 25 years. It is a time of renewal, deep reflection and grace.
A spectacle of Christians in solemn procession for the opening of the Jubilee Year at Lubaga Cathedral.
“We celebrate the Holy Year by deepening our faith. We shall have various programmes that will help us to deeply understand and assimilate the Word of God and apply it to our daily life. The jubilee year puts it on us to go back to our Christian roots, our ecclesial norms; to walk better in the ways of God. It calls on us to reset our Christian life to the design of God, focusing on the Cross with the crucified Jesus who redeemed us from the yoke of sin,” Kampala Archdiocese pastoral co-ordinator Fr Dr Ambrose Bwangatto said.
A spectacle of religious Brothers and Sisters during the solemn procession.
Bwangatto said Christians who participate in the activities of the jubilee year will have the privilege of indulgence (remission of punishment caused by sin). The activities involve among other things making a pilgrimage of faith to places of extraordinary religious significance.
Archbishop Ssemogerere (wearing a mitre) sharing a moment with Hon Judith Nabakooba (left) and Hon Joseph Kyofatogabye (wearing a yellow neck-tie) after mass.
“For us in Kampala Archdiocese, our Archbishop Paul Ssemogerere has chosen Lubaga Cathedral, Uganda Martyrs Catholic Shrine Namugongo, Uganda Martyrs Catholic Shrine Munyonyo, Kiwamirembe Marian Sanctuary (Kajjansi Town Council), Lusinga Mitala-Maria (the birth-place of St Joseph Mukasa Balikuddembe in Mpigi district), and St John the Baptist Catholic Church Mapeera-Nabulagala (the place in Lubaga Division where the first Catholic mass was celebrated) as the official places of pilgrimage in the jubilee year,” Bwangatto said.
The choir leading the singing during mass.
Other activities of the Holy Year (according to Bwangatto) include reading and internalising scriptures and ecclesial documents (or Papal encyclicals), praying the Rosary, the Way of the Cross, etc.
The privilege is nonetheless only granted if the Christian is in a state of grace, having received the sacrament of penance.
Bwangatto said the Church authorities have also recommended some selected tour companies to help people who intend to visit international religious sites such as Lourdes (in France), Rome, Medjugorje, and the Holy Land.
After opening the Holy Door of St Peter’s Basilica, Pope Francis directed that all local Bishops also launch the Jubilee Year in their respective diocese.
Archbishop Paul Ssemogerere of Kampala Archdiocese launched the jubilee year by opening the main door of Lubaga Cathedral on Sunday, December 29, 2024.
Archbishop Paul Ssemogerere (holding a crosier leading the solemn procession for the launching of the Jubilee Year at Lubaga Cathedral on December 29, 2024. 
The memorable function started with outdoor jubilee reflections and later a solemn procession from Uganda Catholic Management and Training Institute Lubaga, past Lubaga Hospital to the Cathedral Quadrangle. The Archbishop then blew the jubilee trumpet, opened the Holy Door and entered the Cathedral through it as all the other Christians followed.
General entry through the Holy Door was symbolic of Jesus being the way through which his followers come to the Father (John 14:6).
In his homily during mass, Archbishop Ssemogerere encouraged Christians to take advantage of the Holy Year to renew their religious commitment. He encouraged them among other things to do penance, to visit the holy sites, to be more prayerful and to perform acts of love and mercy, particularly for the poor, the elderly, the sick, and the refugees.
The theme of the jubilee year is: Pilgrims of Hope.