7 U.S. sites to visit for St. Francis’ Jubilee Year
The article lists seven U.S. sites where pilgrims can obtain the Plenary Indulgence for the 2026–2027 Franciscan Jubilee Year. It explains that the Jubilee commemorates 800 years since St. Francis of Assisi’s death and offers indulgence to those who visit a Franciscan conventual church or sanctuary. Conditions for the indulgence include detachment from sin, confession, communion, and prayers for the Pope’s intentions. The article encourages pilgrims, including the sick and homebound, to participate by offering prayers or visiting the recommended sites.
2 months ago
The Catholic Church’s Franciscan Jubilee Year runs from January 10 2026 to January 10 2027, marking the 800th anniversary of St Francis of Assisi’s death and offering the faithful a plenary indulgence for pilgrimages to designated Franciscan sites in the United States 1
Pope Leo XIV proclaimed the special Franciscan Jubilee, inviting reflection on the core pillars of Franciscan spirituality—simplicity, peace, and care for creation 1. The indulgence is granted under the usual conditions: detachment from sin, confession, communion, and prayers for the Pope’s intentions, with special provisions for the sick, elderly, and homebound 1. Global celebrations include the display of St Francis’s relics in Assisi and Transitus commemorations on October 3 2026 1.
Founded in 1849, the North Beach church survived the 1906 earthquake and houses relics of St Francis, St Clare, and St Anthony of Padua 1.
Established in 1899 on “Mount Saint Sepulcher,” the site features full‑size replicas of Holy‑Land shrines, including the tomb of Christ 1.
The mother church of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe holds “La Conquistadora,” regarded as the oldest Marian image in the United States 1.
Between 1769 and 1823 the Franciscans founded 21 missions along the California coast, nine of which were personally founded by St Junípero Serra 1.
Opened in 1965 on donated land, this riverside retreat has offered spiritual renewal under the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany since 1970 1.
Founded in 1898 by Fr Paul Wattson and Mother Lurana White, Graymoor serves as the motherhouse of the Franciscan Friars and Sisters of the Atonement and hosts the nation’s largest outdoor shrine to St Anthony 1.
Recognized as the site of the first Catholic Mass in what is now the United States (1565), the mission was formally established in 1587 and features a 208‑foot steel cross 1.
Pilgrims must visit any Franciscan conventual church or sanctuary named after St Francis, fulfill the usual indulgence conditions, and may also receive the indulgence spiritually by offering prayers and suffering 1.
The Jubilee encourages Catholics to emulate St Francis as peacemakers, bridge‑builders, and witnesses of Christ’s love, turning hope into concrete action throughout the year 1.*
Explore the theological basis of Jubilee indulgences in Franciscan tradition
Jubilee indulgences in the Church’s theology are not “extra credits,” but a concrete way the Church applies the merits of Christ (and of the saints) to remit temporal punishment due to sin—after guilt has been forgiven—so that sin’s residual effects are truly healed. In a Franciscan “key,” the Jubilee indulgence fits naturally with the Order’s emphasis on penance, humility, obedience to the Church, prayer, and works of mercy—all meant to dispose the soul to receive God’s mercy fruitfully.
The Catechism states that indulgences are “closely linked to the effects of the sacrament of Penance.” It defines indulgence as:
“a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven” … “through the action of the Church” which, “as the minister of redemption, dispenses and applies with authority the treasury of the satisfactions of Christ and the saints.”
So the Jubilee indulgence is fundamentally about God’s mercy working through the Church’s mediation, not about canceling moral responsibility, nor about bypassing conversion.
Pope Francis explains the Jubilee indulgence as a way “of discovering the unlimited nature of God’s mercy.” He stresses that while the sacrament of Reconciliation truly erases sin, “every sin … ‘leaves its mark’,” and that even “venial” sin entails an attachment that must be purified “either here on earth, or after death, in the state called Purgatory.” In that context, “These are removed by the indulgence” (by Christ’s grace).
The Catechism grounds indulgence for the dead in the communion of saints: the departed are still members of the same communion, so “one way we can help them is to obtain indulgences for them” so that “temporal punishments… may be remitted.” Pope Francis also notes that the “Jubilee indulgence… is intended in a particular way for those who have gone before us” so they may obtain full mercy.
Aquinas explains the cause of indulgence in terms of the Church’s superabundant merits, while distinguishing the “cause” from the “effective cause.” The “cause of the remission of punishment… is… the abundance of the Church’s merits,” always sufficient to expiate punishment; but the effective application depends on the recipient’s disposition (devotion/labor/gift) and the intention or reason for the indulgence.
He further grounds this in the unity of the mystical body, where Christ’s Passion and the saints’ satisfactions exceed what each person owes, and are applied through charity.
Aquinas frames indulgences as flowing from the power of the keys, but not in the same way as sacramental absolution. He explicitly distinguishes:
This is why the effectiveness of an indulgence depends on authority and the recipient’s union through charity (and correct intention), not on the personal holiness of the minister.
Aquinas clarifies that an indulgence is not “absolution” in the strict sense of removing guilt; it does not dismiss fault, but “he is given what will pay the debt.”
Consistent with this, he argues indulgences are valid only for those appropriately disposed—he emphasizes the traditional condition “those who are truly contrite and have confessed.”
Aquinas teaches that establishing indulgences pertains to jurisdiction: the Pope has fullness of pontifical power “like a king,” while bishops participate “like judges set over individual cities,” thus they can establish indulgences “to the extent that it is allotted to them, and not more.”
In Spes non confundit, Pope Francis describes Jubilee indulgence as a grace that reshapes the moral and spiritual life: “The Apostolic Penitentiary will issue norms…” and the “experience of full forgiveness” should “open our hearts… to the need to forgive others in turn.” He adds that forgiveness does not erase what happened, but makes it possible to change the future—“free of anger, animosity and vindictiveness.”
This is important for “Franciscan tradition,” because Franciscan spirituality typically treats forgiveness and peace as inseparable from penance and charity, not as optional add-ons.
The sources provided do not include a Franciscan-specific treatise on indulgences; instead, they give the Franciscan Rule and the Church-wide doctrine of indulgences. The best theological “Franciscan basis,” therefore, is an account of how Franciscan life provides the dispositions and moral logic that indulgence presupposes.
Francis’ Rule explicitly calls the brothers to poverty “serving God in poverty and humility, as pilgrims and strangers.” It also provides an explicitly Christological reason: “God made himself poor in this world for us.”
That aligns with Jubilee indulgence’s purpose: mercy that heals sin’s aftermath is received not as a right, but as grace—an inward disposition of humility and trust in Christ’s reconciling work.
Francis’ Rule requires asking permission and referring major governance matters to the Pope (“ask the Lord Pope”). This resonates with indulgences as an act of the Church as “minister of redemption.”
In other words: Franciscan obedience supplies the spiritual posture that indulgence theology demands—recognizing that the Church, not individual desire, authoritatively applies the treasury of satisfaction.
The Rule exhorts brothers to desire “the spirit of the Lord working within” and to “pray to him constantly with a pure heart.” It also commands love of enemies and prayer for persecutors.
This corresponds to Aquinas’ insistence that indulgence application involves union through charity and the intention connected with the honor of God and benefit of neighbor.
Francis forbids the brothers to “receive money” directly or indirectly, while allowing ministers to care for the sick and brothers “through spiritual friends” in ways that still avoid receiving money.
While the Rule does not explicitly mention indulgences, this discipline guards against a common misunderstanding: indulgences must not become a transactional replacement for penance and charity. That concern is consonant with Aquinas’ logic that indulgences must not distract people from penance “for nothing.”
The theological basis of Jubilee indulgences is that the Church—armed with the authority of the “keys” of jurisdiction—applies Christ’s and the saints’ satisfaction to remit temporal punishment due to sin already forgiven, thereby purifying the soul of sin’s lingering effects.
In the Franciscan tradition, the Jubilee indulgence is theologically “native” because Francis’ Rule forms the dispositions indulgence theology requires: humble receptivity (poverty), ecclesial obedience, constant prayer, and charity toward neighbor (including enemies)—all of which prevent indulgences from being viewed as private spiritual shortcuts and instead place them inside a lived penance and conversion.