The first Holy Year was called in 1300 and soon
began to be celebrated every twenty-five years.
These are known as Ordinary Holy Years.
But some occur outside of this cycle as does the forthcoming one – and
these are called extraordinary Holy Years.
They have been often used – or misused – for unworthy purposes, as means
to raise revenues for the Papal States.
Vast numbers of pilgrims flocked to Rome when travel was far from easy
often encouraged by the prospect of gaining multiple indulgences which were
strongly promoted in those days.
Not surprisingly the whole idea of Holy Years came
in for a great deal of scorn and condemnation at the time of the Reformation
and subsequently. As far back as the one
proclaimed by Pope Clement VII for 1525 a set of satirical verses had a wide
circulation in Germany. The first stanza
contrasts the Papal Jubilee, which was only obtainable at Rome with Christ’s
Jubilee or act of salvation, which is freely given everywhere, to all who
repent:
‘This booklet
tells, ‘tis plain to see,
How men keep twofold Jubilee;
The one is that
of Christ our Lord, The other what the Popes accord,
Who wisely reads this book at home
Will not for pardon run to Rome.’ (Translated by Herbert Thurston)
Writing in 1600 Zenola says that at the Jubilee of
1575 ‘very few Englishmen and hardly any Scotch, Saxons, Bohemians, Frenchmen
and Germans came to Rome to profit by this time of spiritual gain.’ He expected ‘there will be extremely few in
this present year.’
Neither Roman Catholic nor Eastern Orthodox
Christians however, could see any reason for discontinuing an age old
devotional exercise. Christians had been
making pilgrimages to Rome long before Holy Years came into existence.
In 1508 when he was twenty-five years old Martin
Luther briefly went to Rome as one of two representatives of his Augustinian
Order. He later described how at first
sight of the city he threw himself to the ground saying; ‘Hail, sacred Rome,
sanctified in truth by the sacred martyrs with whose blood you were
drenched.’ He conducted himself exactly
like multitudes of medieval Christians before him and like them he visited the
seven great basilicas and climbed the Holy Stairs in pursuit of
indulgencies. Within a few years he
became utterly disillusioned at the way in which the Church was presenting the
Gospel and at the way Popes and bishops were living thoroughly unchristian
lives. But by the time the Church began
to seriously undertake the task of reforming itself Martin Luther was leading a
major revolt and Western Christianity was split down the middle.
But scandals arising from false religious claims,
from greed and love of money go back to the early centuries of the Church. Around the year 400 AD St Augustine railed
against the ‘base commercialisation’ of ‘the many hypocrites in the garb of
monks who go through the provinces, sent by no authority, never stationary,
stable or settled. Some sell the relics
of martyrs or so called martyrs!’
So many pilgrims now visit Rome - especially since
Pope Francis has arrived – that every year is like a Holy Year. The people who really miss out are the
traders at Castel Gondolfo – the summer Papal residence near Rome. Pope Francis has never used it, nor is it
likely that he ever will. He has never
believed in going away on holiday. No
doubt he does take time off but he spends it at home. The result is that pilgrims don’t Now travel
to Castel Gondolfo in great numbers with disastrous results for those who
depended on their custom.
Throughout the Catholic world, we will be
encouraged to visit our local Cathedral and other designated churches to celebrate
some highlights of the Holy Year. Pope
Francis, who is concerned about ecology, does not wish to encourage air-travel. Nor will there be much emphasis on
indulgencies. Interest in them has been
diminishing notably over the last half-century.
The religious focus of Catholics has profoundly changed. We no doubt will, in due course, be hearing
from Bishop Richard about what to expect at local level. I hope he gets sound advice. I think we should keep him and our Diocese in
our prayers as he undertakes his new task.
Together we face ever greater challenges. But when did the Church ever have it easy?
I
am indebted to ‘Pilgrimage Yesterday and Today’ by J S Davies
