Jubilee 2025: Indulgences and Relics are Not Just a Thing of the Past

Every year on October 31, Protestants around the world celebrate Reformation Day—a time to remember the transformative movement that reshaped the Church and the Western world. The Reformers stood boldly against the sale of indulgences and the veneration of relics, proclaiming salvation by grace through faith in Christ alone. For many Protestants in North America, those medieval practices may seem like distant echoes from another era and continent. Yet, the sobering reality is that in countries like Italy, these traditions not only continue—they flourish.

This November marks our seventh year as missionaries in Italy. During this time, I’ve come to realize that indulgences and relics are not just things of a medieval past—they remain very much part of everyday religious life for many. On a recent visit to Perugia, I overheard a mother telling her children about a ring displayed in an ornate shrine. “Children, this is a very special ring,” she said. “It’s the ring St. Joseph gave to the Virgin Mary on their wedding day.” The reverence in her voice was unmistakable.

Farther north in Mantua, inside the grand basilica, lies another striking example: a relic believed to contain the very blood of Christ. According to tradition, someone present at the crucifixion collected His blood, mixed with soil, and preserved it. To this day, it rests in an elaborate reliquary beneath the basilica. Every Good Friday, the relic is paraded solemnly through the streets—one of thousands of relics still venerated across Italy.

While indulgences are no longer sold for money, they are still granted. And 2025 marks a significant moment in this tradition. This year, the Roman Catholic Church will celebrate a Jubilee—an extraordinary Holy Year observed every 25 years since 1300. Over 35 million pilgrims are expected to travel to Rome, many in hopes of receiving plenary indulgences.

In Italy, indulgences and relics are not just things of a medieval past—they remain very much part of everyday religious life for many.

According to the Catholic News Agency:

“A plenary indulgence cleanses the soul as if the person had just been baptized. Plenary indulgences obtained during the Jubilee Year can also be applied to souls in purgatory, with the possibility of obtaining two plenary indulgences for the deceased in one day.”

To receive one, pilgrims must meet the usual conditions: detachment from sin, sacramental confession, Communion, prayer for the pope’s intentions, and a visit to one of Rome’s major basilicas. Acts of mercy, such as visiting the sick or imprisoned, can also earn indulgences in this Holy Year.

During a recent trip to Pistoia, Tuscany, we came across a banner outside a local church advertising indulgences. Inside, we discovered “holy” items brought from Lourdes, France: a stone from the grotto, a reliquary containing the remains of St. Bernadette, and spring water from the cave. The church was overflowing. Lines stretched out the door as people touched the stone, stood before the reliquary, and received the water poured onto their hands—some rubbing it across their faces with hope and desperation. A deacon, in exchange for a donation, placed his hand on the reliquary and then on the heads of those who had contributed.

As missionaries in Italy, our hearts break for the millions who will make pilgrimages this year, yearning for peace, healing, and assurance of forgiveness. They long to be accepted by God—but they look for hope in places and practices that cannot provide it. We grieve for them. We pray for them. And we labor here so that they might come to know the One who has already paid the full price of redemption. Christ’s perfect life, his sacrificial death, and his victorious resurrection are enough.

“For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all.”
—1 Timothy 2:5–6

This Jubilee Year, will you join us in prayer for these weary pilgrims—those seeking peace, healing, and atonement? Pray that our efforts—and those of every Christ-centered, gospel-proclaiming church across Italy—would bear fruit. May many come to know the grace, comfort, and assurance that only Jesus can give.