To celebrate the Jubilee Year of 2025, many events of note took place worldwide. Brother Martin Stebbings of Ku Ring Gai Circle 284 recounts some of the events that were commemorated in his Diocese in Australia.
To celebrate the Jubilee Year of 2025, many events of note took place worldwide. Brother Martin Stebbings of Ku Ring Gai Circle 284 recounts some of the events that were commemorated in his Diocese in Australia.
2025 was a Jubilee Year marked by special blessings and commemorations. It was formally concluded on 6 January 2026 when The Holy Father closed the Holy Door at St Peter’s Basilica in Rome.
The Jubilee year’s Motto was ‘SPES NON CONFUNDIT’, which means. “Hope does not disappoint” (Rom 5:5). In the spirit of hope, the Apostle Paul addressed these words of encouragement to the Christian community of Rome.
When proclaiming the Jubilee year in 2022, Pope Francis had in mind not only those pilgrims of hope who would travel to Rome to experience the Holy Year, but also those who, unable to visit Rome, would celebrate the Jubilee Year in their local Churches and Dioceses.
The first Holy Door to be opened for the 2025 Jubilee year was at St. Peter’s Basilica. It was opened by Pope Francis on Christmas Eve, December 24, 2024.
As it is over 13,000 kms from Australia to Rome, it made sense to have local pilgrimages.
A Diocesan Pilgrimage
The Diocese of Broken Bay in New South Wales covers an area of 2,763 square kilometres, taking in metropolitan parishes to the north of Sydney Harbour up to and including the region called the Central Coast. That’s an area about the same size as the English County of Derbyshire.
The name ‘Broken Bay’ is believed to have been given to the area by the explorer Captain James Cook in 1770. It refers to a large inlet of the Tasman Sea located about 50 kilometres (31 miles) North of Sydney, being a body of water that separates greater Metropolitan Sydney from the Central Coast.
To mark the Jubilee Year, in addition to a shrine at the Diocesan Cathedral at Waitara, three shrines were created in the Broken Bay Diocese, each with different prayer intentions attached, and with different patron saints to invoke.
The Three Shrines were:
– The Shrine of Hope for Families at Gosford Parish, under patronage of St. John Paul II
– The Shrine of Hope for the Youth at Chatswood Parish, under the patronage of St. Carlo Acutis, and
– The Shrine of Hope for Priests, at Manly Freshwater Parish, under the patronage of St John Vianney.
The locations of these Shrines are shown in the map of the Broken Bay Diocese below:
The Shrine of Hope for Young People, Chatswood
Under the Guidance of their Parish Priest, Fr. David Ranson (who celebrated mass at the Australian National Catenian Conference in October 2025), the City Parish of Our Lady of Dolours in Chatswood pursues its mission of bringing the light of Christ to the city where we love, we grow and we serve, evangelising to the people of Chatswood and Greater Sydney.
“Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.” Matthew 28:18-20
The Shrine at The Church of Our Lady Of Dolours, Chatswood, was to Saint Carlo Acutis, the first Millennial Saint. St Carlo Acutis is known for his deep devotion to the Eucharist and the website he built that documented Eucharistic Miracles around the world.
St. Carlo Acutis was born in London of Italian parents on May 3, 1991. For work reasons, the Acutis family moved back to Italy shortly afterward, settling in Milan. The young Carlo adapted to his new school quite well, and is remembered for being a friend to all. In 2005, he began studies at a new school, run by the Jesuits. During this time, Carlo showed himself skilled in all things to do with information technology, computers, and the internet. He was inspired by Steve Jobs, former CEO of Apple. The wisdom Jobs shared struck a chord with the young Carlo: “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living the life of someone else.”
Carlo Acutis saw that many young people, wanting to be different, really end up being like everyone else, running after the powerful set before them with the mechanisms of consumerism and distraction. As a result, Carlo said, ‘Everyone is born as an original, but many people end up dying as photocopies.’ Don’t let that happen to you! (Christus Vivit 106).
Martin and his wife Genevieve attending the shrine at Chatswood.
Carlo Acutis died after a short illness caused by acute leukaemia at the age of 15. He faced his death with great courage, as did his suffering parents. Though they prayed for the miracle of his survival, they all came to realize that while God doesn’t always save us from death, he saves us in death.
‘To always be close to Jesus, that’s my life plan’
– St. Carlo Acutis, who was canonised on 27th April 2025.
The Shrine of Hope For Families, Gosford, Central Coast
The Shrine of St John Paul II in the Parish of Gosford, was located at the Church of St Patrick, a thriving parish with a strong focus on prayer, evangelisation and outreach. The shrine was opened on the 22 October 2022.
During his life and pontificate, St John Paul II was a hero of the family. He was convinced that the well-being of all of society was “intimately tied to the good of the family”, describing family as the “first and vital cell of society”. For this reason, the Shrine of Hope under the patronage of St John Paul II would have Families as its special intention and focus for the Jubilee Year.
Every one of us is a part of a family – this Shrine of Hope is for everyone; young and old!
Left: The Shrine with Holy Relic of St John Paul II, within the Church at Gosford.
Right: The statue of St John Paul with the Church In the background and the Pilgrim in the foreground.
The Shrine of Hope for Priests and Vocations, Manly:
Situated not far from picturesque Manly Beach, overlooking the Ocean, the Church of St. Mary Immaculate in Manly, on the ‘Northern Beaches’ of Sydney was the location of the Diocesan Shrine for Vocations.
The Relic of St John Vianney was installed in the Shrine at the Church of St Mary Immaculate Manly on 2 March 2025.
St John Vianney, a French priest also known as the Curé d’Ars, is venerated as the patron saint of Priests, of whom Pope Benedict XVI once said was “a true example of a pastor at the service of Christ’s flock.”
St. John Vianney is especially well known for his generous availability to his flock in the Confessional, where he would often spend 12 hours in a day administering the sacrament of mercy! His heart remains miraculously incorrupt to this day, some 165 years after his death.
God calls each person to a unique vocation – whether to priesthood, religious life, marriage, or the committed single life. Every vocation is a path to share God’s love in this world and to experience the fullness of His love in the next.
At the heart of every vocation is our Baptism, where we receive the universal call to holiness. Our individual vocations are the way we live out that call, responding to God’s unique invitation in our lives.
At the Shrine of Hope for Priests & Vocations in Manly, I was invited to pray for vocations of all kinds – that priests, religious, married couples, and single people may live their calling with joy and faithfulness. Most of all, to pray that every baptised person may listen attentively to God’s voice and courageously follow His call.
The Pilgrims Passport:
On 6 January 2026, Pope Leo went to the threshold of the Holy Door at St Peters Basilica in Rome and pulled each side shut. The door will be sealed until the next Holy Year, which is likely to be 2033, the 2,000th anniversary of the death and resurrection of Jesus.
While the last of the Holy Doors in the city was closing, ‘the gate’ of God’s mercy will never be shut, Pope Leo said before shutting the door. God ‘will always sustain the weary, raise up those who have fallen’ and offer ‘good things’ to those who place their trust in him.
On 28 December 2025, all three relics were brought to the Diocesan Cathedral of Our Lady of The Rosary in Waitara, where mass was celebrated by Bishop Anthony Randazzo.
The spirit of Hope lives on in all Pilgrims and those of us who keep the faith. For those who undertook a Pilgrimage, we each have our special memories and blessings. My memory is aided by the completion of the Pilgrim’s passport below!
Martin Stebbings, Ku Ring Gai Circle 284, 24 January 2026
