In January of this year, His Holiness, Pope Leo XIV, established a special Jubilee Year in commemoration of the Eighth Centenary of the death of Saint Francis of Assisi. Pope Leo desires that this special Jubilee will be a continuation of the Ordinary Jubilee of 2025. Thus, from January 10, 2026, to January 10, 2027, the Year of Saint Francis will be celebrated during which all Christian faithful are invited to follow the example of the Saint of Assisi, becoming models of holiness of life and constant witnesses of peace.
Through Decree of the Apostolic Penitentiary, a plenary indulgence has been granted under the usual conditions to those who participate devoutly in this extraordinary Jubilee.
Conditions for receiving the plenary indulgence (for oneself or for the deceased):
- Visitation in the form of a pilgrimage of any Franciscan conventual church or place of worship dedicated to Saint Francis anywhere in the world, where one renews one’s profession of faith, through the recitation of the Creed, to reaffirm one’s Christian identity. (A list of these churches and locations in our diocese follows below.)
- Sacramental confession (in the eight days before or after the pilgrimage).
- Participation in Mass and Eucharistic Communion.
- Recitation of the Lord’s Prayer, to reaffirm the dignity of children of God, received in Baptism.
- Prayer for the intentions of the Holy Father, the visible sign of the Church’s unity.
Bishop Mark has designated the following sites staffed by Franciscan Friars as pilgrimage sites to receive the indulgence:
- Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church
1100 8th Avenue
Altoona, PA 16602 - Assumption Chapel
1527 Adams Avenue
Altoona, PA 16602 - Saint Mark Church
416 6th Avenue
Altoona, PA 16602 - Holy Rosary Church
900 N. 4th Street
Altoona, PA 16601 - Saint Anthony of Padua Church
2201 Graham Avenue
Windber, PA 15963 - Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton Church
605 Graham Avenue
Windber, PA 15963 - Saints Cyril & Methodius Church
604 Graham Avenue
Windber, PA 15963 - Holy Family Church
562 5th Street
Colver, PA 15927 - Saint John Vianney Church
3513 William Penn Avenue
Johnstown, PA 15909 - Transfiguration Church
340 2nd Street
Conemaugh, PA 15909 - Saint Mary Church
1020 Caroline Street
Nanty Glo, PA 15943 - Holy Family Church
509 Caldwell Avenue
Portage, PA 15946 - Saint Anne Church
505 Woodstown Highway
Davidsville, PA 15928 - Saint Anne Church
533 Woodlawn Avenue
Johnstown, PA 15902 - Saint Francis of Assisi Church
120 Barron Avenue
Johnstown, PA 15906 - Saint John the Baptist Church
101 Findley Street
New Baltimore, PA 15553 - Saint Michael Church
751 Locust Street
St. Michael, PA 15951 - Saint Therese of the Child Jesus Church
536 Decker Avenue
Johnstown, PA 15906 - Saints Peter & Paul Church
400 S. 4th Street
Philipsburg, PA 16866 - Saint Bernardine Monastery
768 Monastery Road
Hollidaysburg, PA 16648 - Saint Francis University
Immaculate Conception Chapel
132 Franciscan Way
Loretto, PA 15940 - Shrines of Our Lady of Fatima and Our Lady of Loreto
Sunken Gardens at Saint Francis Friary
105 St. Francis Drive
Loretto, PA 15940
On the occasion of the opening of the Eighth Centenary of the Transitus of Saint Francis, Pope Leo delivered the following prayer to the Ministers General of the Conference of the Franciscan Family:
Saint Francis, our brother, you who eight hundred years ago went to meet Sister Death as a man at peace, intercede for us before the Lord.
You recognized true peace in the Crucifix of San Damiano, teach us to seek in Him the source of all reconciliation that breaks down every wall.
You who, unarmed, crossed the lines of war and misunderstanding, give us the courage to build bridges where the world raises up boundaries.
In this time afflicted by conflict and division, intercede for us so that we may become peacemakers: unarmed and disarming witnesses of the peace that comes from Christ.
Amen.
