VATICAN: Pope Grants Plenary Indulgences as Church Marks 800 Years Since St. Francis’ Death
Jubilee of St. Francis of Assisi
Sr. Jecinter Antoinette Okoth, FSSA
To mark the 800th Anniversary of the death of St Francis of Assisi, who died on October 3, 1226, Pope Leo XIV, on Saturday, January 10, proclaimed 2026 as a Special Jubilee Year of the Saint.
The year-long jubilee, expected to close on January 10, 2027, includes the rare granting of Plenary Indulgences to the faithful worldwide, signifying the Church’s profound effort to revive the Franciscan legacy in the contemporary world.
According to the decree issued by the Apostolic Penitentiary in conformity with the will of Pope Leo XIV, the Jubilee Year is intended as a spiritual continuation of the Ordinary Jubilee of 2025. The Vatican describes the centenary as an invitation for Christians to renew their commitment to holiness, peace, and active charity by following the example of St. Francis of Assisi, the Seraphic Patriarch
The decree highlights the enduring relevance of St. Francis’s witness in a contemporary world marked by moral laxity, social violence, and fragile peace. Comparing the 13th century during the lifetime of St. Francis and the present day, the Church calls on the faithful to allow the hope experienced during the Jubilee to be transformed into concrete works of charity and reconciliation
During the Jubilee Year, the decree underscores that plenary indulgences may be obtained by members of the Franciscan Families, including the First, Second, and Third Orders, both regular and secular, as well as by all the faithful who participate in the celebrations.
To receive the indulgence, pilgrims are required to visit a Franciscan church or a place associated with St. Francis, to take part in Jubilee rites, or to spend time in prayer and meditation, and to fulfil the usual conditions of sacramental confession, Holy Communion, and prayer for the intentions of the Holy Father.
The decree also provides for the elderly, the sick, and those unable to travel, allowing them to obtain the indulgence by spiritually uniting themselves with the Jubilee celebrations and by offering their prayers and sufferings to God. The indulgence may also be applied for the souls in purgatory.
In order to facilitate the faithful’s access to this grace, the Apostolic Penitentiary has urged priests to make themselves generously available for the Sacrament of Reconciliation throughout the Jubilee Year.
In a different letter addressed to the Ministers General of the conferences of the Franciscan family to mark the 800th anniversary of the death of St. Francis of Assisi, Pope Leo XIV reflects on why Francis of Assisi, eight centuries after his death, continues to captivate hearts and imaginations across cultures and continents. He suggests that St. Francis’s enduring appeal lies in his authenticity, the complete harmony between what he preached and how he lived.
“Francis was not a theorist of poverty but a poor man. Not a philosopher of peace but a peacemaker. Not a poet of creation but a brother to all creatures,” the Pope writes and added, “His life testified that the Gospel is not impossible idealism but lived reality.”
