The Jubilee: Call to Conversion or Cash Cow? by Elizabeth Lev

By Elizabeth Lev, The Catholic Thing, April 5, 2025

Elizabeth Lev is a transplanted (to Rome) American art historian with degrees from the University of Chicago and the University of Bologna. She has been working as a guide in Rome for over 20 years and operates Liz Lev Tours, while teaching at Duquesne University’s Italian campus and the University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum). She is the author of four books, including How Catholic Art Saved the Faith: The Triumph and Beauty of Counter-Reformation Art.

I rediscovered my faith during Jubilee Year 2000. I spent the bulk of that Holy Year living far away from the Catholic faith. I led groups to the Holy Door, explaining art, history, and indulgences before sending people through the door while I stayed behind. Those open doors, however, beckoned constantly, even luring secular clients curious about these mysterious graces. For all the crowds and chaos, the silent invitation of the doors, always open, always expectant, finally wore down my resistance, and by the end of the year, I too crossed that threshold of hope and joyfully returned to the fold of my faith. The 2025 Jubilee, however, may keep others from finding theirs.

Having personally experienced the great graces of a Jubilee and witnessed the amazing conversions of other holy years, I have been eagerly awaiting the 27^th Jubilee, the Year of Hope. And yes, there have been many graces already in 2025, but the beacon of the Year of Hope has been dimmed by hasty policy changes at St. Peter’s Basilica. …

Continue reading >>>>>>>>>