A jubilee is a special year of remission of sins and universal pardon. In Leviticus, a jubilee year (Hebrew: יובל yūḇāl) is mentioned to occur every 50th year; during which slaves and prisoners would be freed, debts would be forgiven and the mercies of God would be particularly manifest.
In Western Christianity, the tradition dates to 1300, when Pope Boniface VIII convoked a holy year, following which ordinary jubilees have generally been celebrated every 25 or 50 years, with extraordinary jubilees in addition depending on need. Catholic jubilees, particularly in the Latin Church, generally involve pilgrimage to a sacred site, normally the city of Rome. The Catholic Church declared the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy for 2015–2016.
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