Jubilee Youth Pilgrimage to Rome 2025

At the conclusion of World Youth Day in 2023, Pope Francis extended a heartfelt invitation to young people aged 16 and over to join thousands from across the globe in Rome in 2025.

The occasion is the Jubilee Youth Pilgrimage – a week-long journey of faith and renewal – calling young people to become “Pilgrims of Hope”.

In his message, the Holy Father said:

“You are the joyful hope of a Church and of a humanity which is always on the move. I would like to take you by the hand and walk the path of hope with you. I would like to speak with you about our joys and hopes, but also about the sadness and anguish in our hearts and of our humanity that suffers.”

In response to this invitation, 25 young people from the Diocese of East Anglia have committed to journeying to Rome at the end of July, joining hundreds of thousands of other young pilgrims. All are seeking to deepen their faith and be inspired and supported as they grow as disciples of Christ.

With such high demand for travel and accommodation, the associated costs are substantial. For many, participation would not be possible without the support of their families, friends, parishes, and wider communities. Since September 2024, these young pilgrims have been hard at work fundraising.

At the chapel of St Vincent de Paul (part of the OLEM parish) in Cambridge, two parishioners, Simran and Rita, were among the first to sign up. They began their fundraising efforts by serving mulled wine and mince pies after a Festival of Lessons and Carols at Christmas, and have since continued with Sunday refreshments after Mass. Fellow parishioners have rallied around them – two have made jam and marmalade to sell, while another donated plants from their garden. Despite the challenges of being part of a small community without access to a parish hall, the girls have been uplifted by the generosity around them. As Rita recently shared in an update:

“Your kindness and generosity has truly made a difference, and we are grateful to have such a supportive parish family.”

At the neighbouring parish of St Laurence’s, where seven young parishioners are preparing for the pilgrimage, the Parish Pastoral Council has generously pledged to cover a third of the cost for each participant. Inspired by this support, the young people have come together to fundraise and have already held two successful bake sales, raising over £1,000.

Across the Diocese, many more such efforts are underway. If you are able, please do support these young pilgrims – whether financially or through your prayers.

In this Jubilee Year, as we are all encouraged to make a personal pilgrimage – whether to Rome or somewhere closer to home – let us take to heart the words of Pope Francis:

“The Jubilee pilgrimage is meant to be the outward sign of an inward journey that all of us are called to make towards our final destination. It is my hope that this Jubilee pilgrimage will become for each of us a moment of genuine, personal encounter with the Lord Jesus. I encourage you to approach this experience with three fundamental attitudes. First, thanksgiving, with hearts open to praise God for his many gifts, especially the gift of life. Then, a spirit of seeking, as an expression of our heart’s unquenchable thirst to encounter the Lord. And finally, penance, which helps us to look within, to acknowledge the wrong paths and decisions we have at times taken and, in this way, to be converted to the Lord and to the light of his Gospel.”

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