Cardinal Frank Leo will close Toronto’s Jubilee Year celebration with a Dec. 28 Mass at St. Michael’s Cathedral Basilica, urging faith beyond 2025.
Newsroom (18/12/2025 Gaudium Press ) The Archdiocese of Toronto will bring its Jubilee Year to a formal close on Dec. 28 with a solemn Mass at St. Michael’s Cathedral Basilica, where Cardinal Frank Leo will preside over the 5 p.m. liturgy. The service marks the culmination of a yearlong spiritual celebration that has energized parishes and pilgrims across Canada’s largest Catholic community.
In a pastoral letter to the faithful, Cardinal Leo expressed deep gratitude for what he described as a moment of renewed faith and unity, while urging believers to carry the graces of the Jubilee well beyond its official end.
“I am eternally grateful for the fruits of our labour and pray that this Jubilee Year has stirred and nurtured the seeds of faith within each one of us,” he wrote, “and sparked a joy and love of our Lord and our faith that will continue beyond a designated year, accompanying us in our daily spiritual journey.”
The Archdiocese launched its Jubilee observance with an opening Mass on Dec. 29, 2024, setting in motion a series of faith-filled events that rippled throughout 2025. Early in the year, Cardinal Leo and the archdiocese’s auxiliary bishops presided over regional liturgical celebrations at parishes designated as Jubilee pilgrimage churches, inviting Catholics across the Greater Toronto Area to enter into the spirit of renewal.
One of the year’s highlights came on Aug. 24 at the Martyrs’ Shrine in Midland, Ont., where more than 4,000 faithful gathered for a day of worship and reflection. The celebration included the Sacrament of Reconciliation, Mass, a Rosary procession, Eucharistic Adoration, and Benediction—elements that underscored the Jubilee’s central themes of mercy and hope.
The global dimension of the Jubilee took shape in November, when Cardinal Leo led more than 100 Toronto pilgrims to Rome and Assisi. The group passed through the Holy Doors of the four major papal basilicas and prayed at the tombs of St. Francis of Assisi, St. Clare of Assisi, and Blessed Carlo Acutis. They participated in the Jubilee Eucharistic Celebration for the Poor—an experience Cardinal Leo described as deeply moving and emblematic of the Church’s call to compassion.
In his message, Leo commended the dedication of clergy, religious, and laypeople who organized parish events, talks, and outreach efforts throughout the year, bringing what he called “the gift of hope to those in our midst.” He singled out the large number of Pilgrims of Hope who availed themselves of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, calling it a sign of genuine spiritual renewal.
Before the closing Mass at St. Michael’s, confessions will be heard from 3:30 to 4:45 p.m. The celebration coincides with similar liturgies around the world as the Catholic Church prepares for the formal conclusion of the Jubilee Year at the Vatican on Jan. 6, the feast of the Epiphany of Our Lord.
The final ceremonies in Rome will include the closing of the Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica, preceded by similar rites at the three other papal basilicas—St. Mary Major on Dec. 25, St. John Lateran on Dec. 27, and St. Paul Outside the Walls on Dec. 28.
Though the ceremonial year may end, Cardinal Leo’s words suggest that the Jubilee’s message endures. For him, the true conclusion is not in a date, but in the ongoing journey of faith that follows.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from Catholic Register
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