La Mostra Origin, Timing and Forms of the Rite Extraordinary Jubilees and Holy Years
Extraordinary Jubilee functions and processions
The extraordinary jubilees described by Gaetano Moroni (1802-1883), author of the most famous Dizionario di erudizione storico-ecclesiastica, were proclaimed by pontiffs from the sixteenth century onwards for special occasions, at difficult times, or to celebrate the beginning of a pontificate. They lasted varying lengths of time and were often only local in scope (more than seventy of them were held). Between 1933 and 1983, and again in 2016, there have been a number of extraordinary jubilees whose duration, scope and ceremony are identical to ordinary universal jubilees, qualifying them as true Holy Years
Gaetano Moroni, Funzioni e processioni pei giubilei straordinarii, in: Id., Le cappelle pontificie, cardinalizie e prelatizie. Opera storico liturgica..., Venezia 1841
Portrait of Sixtus V
Sixtus V, elected Pope in 1585, was the first pontiff to proclaim a Jubilee to mark the start of his pontificate
Sixtus V Perettus pontifex maximus, in: Gregorio Leti, Vita di Sisto V pontefice romano..., vol. I, Amsterdam 1721
Extraordinary Jubilee at the start of Sixtus V’s papacy (1585)
Tempesti tells of Sixtus V’s decision to begin his pontificate by proclaiming “a broad plenary indulgence in the form of a Jubilee; ...a usage never before practised by any of his predecessors”
Casimiro Liborio Tempesti, Storia della vita e geste di Sisto quinto sommo pontefice..., vol. I, Roma 1754
Pius XI’s Holy Years
Pius XI celebrated two Holy Years: an ordinary one in 1925, and an extraordinary one in 1933 to celebrate the 1900th anniversary of the Redemption. The Jubilee of 1933 was the first Extraordinary Jubilee to be celebrated adopting every aspect of Ordinary Jubilee ceremony, including the ritual of the Holy Door, hence its inclusion as a true Holy Year. It was also the first Holy Year to be celebrated after the Lateran Accords and the Concordat between Italy and the Holy See, which resolved the “Roman question”
Il papa degli anni santi, in: Pio XI: monumenti e opere, Città del Vaticano 1936
Pius XI’s Holy Years
Pius XI celebrated two Holy Years: an ordinary one in 1925, and an extraordinary one in 1933 to celebrate the 1900th anniversary of the Redemption. The Jubilee of 1933 was the first Extraordinary Jubilee to be celebrated adopting every aspect of Ordinary Jubilee ceremony, including the ritual of the Holy Door, hence its inclusion as a true Holy Year. It was also the first Holy Year to be celebrated after the Lateran Accords and the Concordat between Italy and the Holy See, which resolved the “Roman question”
Il papa degli anni santi, in: Pio XI: monumenti e opere, Città del Vaticano 1936
Pius XI’s Holy Years
Pius XI celebrated two Holy Years: an ordinary one in 1925, and an extraordinary one in 1933 to celebrate the 1900th anniversary of the Redemption. The Jubilee of 1933 was the first Extraordinary Jubilee to be celebrated adopting every aspect of Ordinary Jubilee ceremony, including the ritual of the Holy Door, hence its inclusion as a true Holy Year. It was also the first Holy Year to be celebrated after the Lateran Accords and the Concordat between Italy and the Holy See, which resolved the “Roman question”
Il papa degli anni santi, in: Pio XI: monumenti e opere, Città del Vaticano 1936
Pius XI’s Holy Years
Pius XI celebrated two Holy Years: an ordinary one in 1925, and an extraordinary one in 1933 to celebrate the 1900th anniversary of the Redemption. The Jubilee of 1933 was the first Extraordinary Jubilee to be celebrated adopting every aspect of Ordinary Jubilee ceremony, including the ritual of the Holy Door, hence its inclusion as a true Holy Year. It was also the first Holy Year to be celebrated after the Lateran Accords and the Concordat between Italy and the Holy See, which resolved the “Roman question”
Il papa degli anni santi, in: Pio XI: monumenti e opere, Città del Vaticano 1936
Jubilee of 1933: Committee for the Holy Year, indiction and announcement of opening the Holy Door
Primi albori dell'anno santo, in: La civiltà cattolica, a. LXXXIV (1933)
1933 Holy Year inauguration ceremonies
Il giubileo della redenzione inaugurato dal Pontefice con l'apertura della porta santa, in: L'illustrazione italiana, a. LX, n. 15, 9 April 1933
1933, Extraordinary Jubilee of the Redemption
Francesco Zanetti, Sulla soglia della porta santa: gli anni santi straordinari, in: L'osservatore romano, a. LXXIII, n. 16, 20 January 1933
Pius XI and Guglielmo Marconi inaugurate Vatican Radio (12 February 1931)
In 1933, Vatican Radio was to broadcast the opening ceremony for the Holy Door during the Holy Year of the Redemption
Felici (papal photogr.), Il Santo Padre e G. Marconi inaugurano la stazione della Radio della città vaticana, in: Guido Guida, Pio XI, Milano 1938
Pius XI’s first speech on the radio (12 February 1931)
Felici (papal photogr.), Il primo discorso del papa alla radio, in: Guido Guida, Pio XI, Milano 1938
The monumental cross on Monte Senario lit up
On 1 April 1933, at the start of the Holy Year of the Redemption, via Vatican Radio from Vatican City Pius XI used a remote control to light up the cross erected at the Monte Senario sanctuary in Tuscany
Felici (papal photogr.), Sua santità Pio XI illumina la croce monumentale del Monte Senario, in: L'osservatore romano, a. LXXIII, n. 79, 3-4 April 1933
1966, Extraordinary Jubilee
Paolo VI indice e promulga il giubileo straordinario per impetrare la felice applicazione del Concilio Vaticano II, in: L'osservatore romano, a. CV, n. 282, 6-7 December 1965
Extraordinary Jubilee for the 1950th anniversary of the Redemption
In 1983, Pope John Paul II proclaimed an Extraordinary Jubilee for the 1950th anniversary of the Redemption, fifty years after Pius XI’s Jubilee to celebrate its 1900th anniversary. The 1983 Jubilee was also celebrated with all Holy Year rituals. The Holy Door opening ceremony followed Paul VI’s simplified ritual
Speciale anno santo. Le immagini più belle dell'apertura del Giubileo. Photos by Mauro Galligani, Gianni Minischetti, Vittoriano Rastelli. Texts by Guido Mattioni e Ariberto Segàla, in: Epoca, n. 1696, 8 April 1983
Extraordinary Jubilee for the 1950th anniversary of the Redemption
In 1983, Pope John Paul II proclaimed an Extraordinary Jubilee for the 1950th anniversary of the Redemption, fifty years after Pius XI’s Jubilee to celebrate its 1900th anniversary. The 1983 Jubilee was also celebrated with all Holy Year rituals. The Holy Door opening ceremony followed Paul VI’s simplified ritual
Speciale anno santo. Le immagini più belle dell'apertura del Giubileo. Photos by Mauro Galligani, Gianni Minischetti, Vittoriano Rastelli. Texts by Guido Mattioni e Ariberto Segàla, in: Epoca, n. 1696, 8 April 1983
Extraordinary Jubilee for the 1950th anniversary of the Redemption
In 1983, Pope John Paul II proclaimed an Extraordinary Jubilee for the 1950th anniversary of the Redemption, fifty years after Pius XI’s Jubilee to celebrate its 1900th anniversary. The 1983 Jubilee was also celebrated with all Holy Year rituals. The Holy Door opening ceremony followed Paul VI’s simplified ritual
Speciale anno santo. Le immagini più belle dell'apertura del Giubileo. Photos by Mauro Galligani, Gianni Minischetti, Vittoriano Rastelli. Texts by Guido Mattioni e Ariberto Segàla, in: Epoca, n. 1696, 8 April 1983
Opening of the Holy Year of Redemption
RAI Teche B10872