Catholics in Sierra Leone Challenged to Increase their “witness to life at all stages” in Church Jubilee Year

Freetown, 01 February, 2025 / 10:31 PM

Catholic Bishops in The Gambia and Sierra Leone have called on the faithful to deepen their commitment to life, justice, and reconciliation as part of their observance of the 2025 Jubilee Year of the Church.

In a statement following their January 19-26 meeting in the Catholic Diocese of Kenema, members of the Inter-Territorial Catholic Bishops' Conference of The Gambia and Sierra Leone (ITCABIC) emphasized that the Jubilee Year should serve as a time of “prayer, conversion, renewal, restoration, and hope.”

They urged Catholics to strengthen their spiritual lives and to take concrete steps to foster peace and unity in their communities.

“As pilgrims of hope, we are summoned to be agents of justice, peace, and reconciliation among ourselves and in our society, including witnessing to Catholic Christian values, such as respect for life at all stages,” ITCABIC members said in the statement that was issued on January 26.

The Catholic Church in Sierra Leone, in particular, has been vocal about the need to promote life in the country where some are pushing for a Bill that seeks to legalize abortion.

Catholic Bishops in Sierra Leone warned that the Bill's promotion of unrestricted reproductive choices could lead to a normalization of abortion.

In their stamen following their plenary assembly, Bishops from Sierra Leone and The Gambia also spoke about the Jubilee Year of Hope which they said offers the people of God “a singular opportunity” to build their relationships with Christians of other Churches and ministries and with the followers of other religions.”

The Catholic Bishops encouraged effective celebration of the Sacraments of Reconciliation and of Matrimony during the Jubilee Year, calling on the people to place greater emphasis on the spiritual preparation and post-marriage pastoral accompaniment.

They further extolled parishioners, families, and church organizations to dedicate more time to praying together and to organize pilgrimages to diocesan cathedrals and religious shrines.

“Let us use the period of the Jubilee Year of Hope to engage in deepening our Catholic faith through the ongoing formation and robust catechesis,” the Catholic Bishops in Sierra Leone and The Gambia said.

Pope Francis officially launched the 2025 Jubilee Year on the Eve of Christmas 2024 with the opening of the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica.

Announcing the start of a Year of Prayer on 21 January 2024 in preparation for the Church’s 2025 Jubilee Year, the second in his Pontificate after the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy in 2015, the Holy Father said that the 2025 Jubilee Year will be “a year dedicated to rediscovering the great value and absolute need for prayer in one’s personal life, in the life of the Church, and in the world.”