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Church’s 2025 Jubilee Year an Occasion for Catholics to Renew “faith, way of life”: Archbishop in South Africa

Archbishop Buti Joseph Tlhagale. Credit: Kati Dijane

The Church’s 2025 Jubilee Year is an opportunity for Catholics to deepen their faith and align their lives with the teachings of Jesus Christ, Archbishop Buti Joseph Tlhagale has said.

In his remarks during the enthronement of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the blessing of the newly built Stations of the Cross and the statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Our Lady of Mercy Shrine in Magaliesburg in the Catholic Archdiocese of Johannesburg, Archbishop Buti also reflected on the Encyclical Letter on the human and divine love of the Heart of Jesus Christ, Dilexit Nos, which Pope Francis issued on 24 October 2024.

Credit: Kati Dijane

“The Jubilee Year is an encouragement, an occasion, and an event for all Catholics to renew their faith, to renew their way of life as Christians, and to promote the virtues demonstrated by Jesus Christ during his life on earth,” the Catholic Archbishop emeritus of Johannesburg said during the January 18 celebration.

Archbishop Buti, who is the Apostolic Administrator of Johannesburg Archdiocese announced that the South African Metropolitan See will formally launch the 2025 Jubilee Year on February 1.

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Credit: Kati Dijane

He explained that the spiritual journey during the Jubilee Year is designed to draw the people of God closer to the person of Jesus Christ.

The South African member of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) urged Catholics to “not only know about Christ but also imitate his lifestyle on earth,” emphasizing the need to put Christ at the center of their lives and seek to deepen their understanding of His mission.

Credit: Kati Dijane

“By knowing Christ more, we will be in a position to imitate His mission, which was to save mankind. Our mission is to expand His mission on Earth by building a kingdom, a community, and a society that highlights the virtues of Christ,” Archbishop Buti said.

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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.

Credit: Kati Dijane

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 yearlong initiative will be “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.”

In his remarks during the January 18 celebrations, Archbishop Buti said the enthronement of the Sacred Heart of Jesus at the Parish marked a continuation of efforts to emphasize the message of Pope Francis’ Encyclical Letter on the human and divine love of the Heart of Jesus Christ.

Credit: Kati Dijane

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He explained the relevance of the Encyclical Letter, saying, “The significance of today's event is to remember the publication of this letter and use it as an occasion to renew our belief and faith in the kindness, mercy, and compassion of Jesus Christ.”

The Archbishop emeritus of Johannesburg said that the virtues of kindness, mercy, and compassion remain essential for Catholics. “These virtues have been present in the tradition of the Catholic Church, but this allows us to reemphasize the Holy Father’s message and promote it among all Catholics in the Archdiocese,” he further said.

Credit: Kati Dijane

He went on to call on Catholics to obtain a copy of the Encyclical Letter, describing it as a companion for their faith journey.

In his homily at Our Lady of Mercy Shrine that was officially launched on 27 April 2024 located not too far from South Africa’s world heritage site, the Cradle of Humankind, Archbishop Buti said that the shrine in Johannesburg Archdiocese aimed to help deepen Marian devotion among pilgrims.

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Credit: Kati Dijane

The South African OMI Archbishop, whose retirement Pope Francis accepted in October 2024 went on to highlight the importance of the enthronement of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, saying, the event “is intended to invite us and bring us closer to the person of Christ.”

“The enthronement celebrates our knowledge of the person of Jesus who went about doing good, preaching, teaching and healing people,” he said, adding, “The enthronement refocuses our minds and imaginations on the mission of Jesus and, in turn, on our own mission as His disciples. It means re-energising, rededicating and reawakening our hearts to imitate the heart of Jesus.”

Credit: Kati Dijane

For the Apostolic Administrator of Johannesburg, the enthronement of the Sacred Heart of Jesus was inspired by Pope Francis’ Encyclical Letter on the human and divine love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ.

The January 18 celebration, he said, was one of “adoration and veneration of Jesus, our brother and king, our redeemer and saviour, our Lord and master.”

Credit: Kati Dijane

“Pope Francis says the heart is the symbol used to express the love of Jesus Christ. Our thoughts and feelings proceed from the heart, a place of sincerity where deceit and disguise have no place. The heart is the place of truth about ourselves. It is also the heart that seeks forgiveness and reconciliation and leads to spiritual growth,” Archbishop Buti said, adding that the heart of Jesus Christ is the symbol of boundless love and a source of our salvation.

On the Blessed Virgin Mary, whose statue was also unveiled and blessed during the January 18 celebrations, the Catholic Archbishop said that her acceptance of God’s request led to her bodily maternity to Jesus and by extension her spiritual motherhood to all of us, God’s children.

Credit: Kati Dijane

“Mary represents Jesus Christ’s love and becomes the mother of all of us baptized in the name of Jesus. Through the enthronement of the statue of our Mother, we continually understand her role of interceding on our behalf to her Son, Jesus Christ,” Archbishop Buti added.

Kati Dijane in South Africa contributed to this story

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