Jubilee Years

(Holy Years), specially designated years established in’the Catholic Church by Pope Boniface VIII in 1300, originally as 100-year jubilees of the church. Pilgrims who visited Rome in jubilee years were granted full absolution of their sins. The revenue from the influx of pilgrims was so large that the successors of Boniface VIII repeatedly reduced the intervals between jubilee years (for example, in the 15th century the interval was reduced to 25 years beginning in 1475). Jubilee years are widely used not only to replenish church coffers but also as a means for religious and political propaganda. The year 1975 was designated a jubilee year.