From the President: Headed to Rome for comms jubilee

Posted By: Gretchen Crowe Catholic Media Blog, The Catholic Journalist,

Gretchen CroweMy husband and I got married in 2016, right in the middle of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy. Our honeymoon photos include a collage of all the various holy doors through which we passed on our travels. Aren’t we cute?

Seriously, though, I’m grateful for that extraordinary jubilee because otherwise, I don’t have a lot of experience with jubilee years. Being a child of the ’80s, I wasn’t around for 1975, I was too young to celebrate 1,950 years since Christ’s death and resurrection in 1983, and I wasn’t paying much attention in my early college years. 

So, I am particularly looking forward to going to Rome for the Jubilee of the World of Communications at the end of January. It’s a great honor to formally represent the Catholic Media Association, and I hope to see many of you there.

For those of you, like me, who need a jubilee year primer, Maria Wiering at OSV News has an excellent “10 things to know about Jubilee 2025, the Holy Year that begins Dec. 24,” and Cindy Wooden has a great backgrounder through CNS Rome.

The communications jubilee will take place from Friday, Jan. 24, 2025, the feast of St. Francis de Sales, to Sunday, Jan. 26. There are additional conferences and events surrounding that weekend, but those 2.5 days are the main event for communicators.

I am looking forward to the penitential liturgy and Mass at the Lateran Palace and the Basilica of St. John Lateran next door, as well as an audience with Pope Francis, and walking through the holy doors of the four major basilicas in the city. 

But perhaps what I’m looking forward to most is the opportunity to be grounded in the critical mission that instructs everything we do as members of Catholic media: How we can use our role within the church to give voice to those on the margins, to stand up for truth and justice, to communicate hope and peace, especially during times of tension and conflict. And, of course, to reflect how we can accomplish all of these things together — something the Catholic Media Association affords us the opportunity to do so well. 

Whether you’re heading to Rome or not this Jubilee year, we can each make a point to reflect on why we do what we do, and how we might better be pilgrims of hope through our invaluable media work.

Gretchen R. Crowe is President of the Catholic Media Association Board of Directors and Editor-in-Chief of OSV News.