The decree of Bishop McDermott establishing Jubilee Churches in Vermont

On May 9, 2024, His Holiness, Pope Francis declared an Ordinary Jubilee for 2025 with the Papal Bull “Spes non confundit” reminding the faithful that “the Pilgrimage is a fundamental element of every Jubilee event and that “in the coming year, pilgrims of hope will surely travel the ancient and more modem routes in order to experience the Jubilee to the full” (Spes non Confundit 5). In this Bull, in addition to the Holy Doors and Jubilee Churches in Rome, our Holy Father indicated the importance of also making other places at the local level spaces of welcome in which to generate hope (23).

Therefore, I hereby establish that for the duration of this Jubilee Year- from the promulgation of this decree to December 28, 2025 — these are to be considered the Jubilee Churches in the Diocese of Burlington:

• Cathedral of Saint Joseph (Burlington)
• Church of St. John the Evangelist (St. Johnsbury)
• Church of St. Michael the Archangel (Brattleboro)
• Church of Christ the King (Rutland)

The Norms of the Decree on the Granting of the Indulgence during the Ordinary Jubilee Year 2025, issued by the Apostolic Penitentiary on May 13, 2024, state that all the faithful, who are truly repentant and free from any affection for sin, who are moved by a spirit of charity and who, during the Holy Year, purified through the sacrament of penance and refreshed by Holy Communion, prayer for the intentions of the Supreme Pontiff, will be able to obtain from the treasury of the Church a plenary indulgence, with remission and forgiveness of all their sins, in the following ways:

1. Pilgrimages
The faithful, pilgrims of hope, will be able to obtain the Jubilee Indulgence granted by the Holy Father if they undertake a pious pilgrimage to any of the above Jubilee Churches and devoutly participate in any of the following:

• Holy Mass
• A ritual Mass for the conferral of the sacraments of Christian Initiation or the Anointing of the Sick
• A celebration of the Word of God, the Liturgy of the Hours, the Stations of the Cross, the Marian Rosary, the recitation of the Akathist hymn, a penitential celebration which includes the individual confessions of the penitents (as found in the Order of Penance).
• Engage in a suitable period of time in Eucharistic adoration and meditation, concluding with the Lord’s Prayer, the Profession of Faith in any legitimate form, and prayers to Mary, the Mother of God, so that in this Holy Year everyone “will come to know the closeness of Mary, the most affectionate of mothers, who never abandons her children” (Spes non confundit, 24).

2. Works of Mercy and Penance
In addition, the faithful will be able to obtain the Jubilee Indulgence if, with a devout spirit, they participate in popular missions, spiritual exercises, or formation activities on the documents of the Second Vatican Council and the Catechism of the Catholic Church, held in a church or other suitable place, according to the mind of the Holy Father.

The faithful who are truly repentant of sin but who cannot participate in the various solemn celebrations, pilgrimages, and pious visits for serious reasons ( especially cloistered nuns and monks, but also the elderly, the sick, prisoners, and those who, through their work in hospitals and other care facilities, provide continuous service to the sick), can obtain the Jubilee Indulgence under the same conditions if, united in spirit with the faithful taking part in person ( especially when the words of the Supreme Pontiff or the diocesan Bishop are transmitted through various means of communication), they recite the Lord’s Prayer, the Profession of Faith in any approved form, and other prayers in conformity with the objectives of the Holy Year, in their homes or wherever they are confined, offering up their sufferings or the hardships of their lives.

The faithful will also be able to obtain the Jubilee Indulgence if they visit, for an appropriate amount of time, their brothers and sisters who are in need or difficulty (the sick, prisoners, lonely elderly people, disabled people), in a sense making a pilgrimage to Christ present in them according to the usual spiritual, sacramental, and prayer conditions. The faithful can repeat these visits throughout the Holy Year, even daily, acquiring a plenary indulgence each time.

A plenary indulgence can be acquired only once in the course of a day. However, the faithful who have carried out an act of charity on behalf of the souls of Purgatory, if they receive Holy Communion a second time that day during a Eucharistic celebration, can obtain the plenary indulgence twice on the same day, applicable only to the deceased.

Given at the Chancery Office in South Burlington, Vermont, this 15th day of January, in the year of Our Lord 2025. 

The Most Reverend John J. McDermott Bishop of Burlington

What is a plenary indulgence, and how do you obtain one?

In modern parlance, “indulgence” can be seen as something of a dirty word, a canard leveled against Catholics by those who claim the Church encourages the faithful to “buy their way to Heaven”. Certainly, when laxity and corruption were endemic during the era of the Borgia Popes, indulgences were indeed sold to credulous laypeople. But the tradition of indulgences transcends these cases, and is a powerful expression of the Church’s spiritual authority.

The idea of granting special graces for performing specific penances traces its roots to the Council of Epaone in 517. Over the centuries, the practice has changed significantly, but the basic premise remains the same: the Pope and his bishops can decree the granting of indulgences, which remove the penalties for confessed sins the faithful might otherwise need to endure in purgatory. By offering their own indulgences for souls already in purgatory, the faithful may receive additional reward. During this Jubilee Year of Hope, Pope Francis has decreed the granting of plenary indulgences to all who perform one or more of the following during the Jubilee:

• Making pilgrimage to Rome and visiting at least one of the four major basilicas: St. Peter’s, St. John Lateran, St. Mary Major, or St. John Outside the Walls.
• Visiting one of these churches, also in Rome: the Basilica of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem; the Basilica of St. Lawrence Outside the Walls; the Basilica of St. Sebastian; the Sanctuary of Divine Love; the Church of the Holy Spirit in Sassia; the Church of St. Paul at Tre Fontaine; the Basilica of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva; St. Brigid; Santa Maria della Vittoria; Trinita dei Monti; the Basilica of St. Monica; the Basilica of St. Augustine; or the Roman Catacombs.
• Performing corporal works of mercy, especially those carried out in memory of the souls in purgatory.
• Acts of penance such as abstaining from social media; fasting and abstinence; donating money or goods to the poor; or volunteering one’s time to serve the needy.
• Making pilgrimage to one’s diocesan cathedral.
• Participating in “popular missions, spiritual exercises, or formation activities on the documents of the Second Vatican Council and the Catechism of the Catholic Church.”
• Pilgrimage to any other basilica, cathedral, or church which has been designated as a site of pilgrimage during the Jubilee year by their bishop.

It is the Holy Father’s wish that all the faithful make use of the Jubilee Year of Hope and the many graces which can be obtained during it; that we may all more fully participate in the life of the Church, avail ourselves of the rich patrimony which has been handed down to us, and grow closer to Christ through service to Him and to our neighbor.