From August 1st to 2nd, Franciscan churches and parish churches will welcome thousands of pilgrims who wish to experience the Pardon of Assisi. 2025 will be truly grace-filled: it is a Jubilee Year and it marks the 800th anniversary of the Canticle of the Creatures. The Portiuncula Shrine in Assisi is also ready to welcome pilgrims, with initiatives and celebrations taking place from July 29th to August 4th. Among these, Br. Massimo Fusarelli, Minister General of the OFM, will preside over the Holy Masses on August 1st and 2nd.
Br. Massimo recalls how Saint Francis, through the Canticle, taught us to contemplate creation with new eyes, recognizing the Creator’s imprint in every being: Francis praises the Creator and invites mutual forgiveness out of love for Him, significantly concluding the Canticle with forgiveness. Last year, Br. Massimo, in his homily at Santa Maria degli Angeli, emphasized how the Pardon of Assisi is “an experience of grace and mercy born from the request of Saint Francis and founded in the mercy of the Father, the mediation of the Virgin Mary, and the sacrifice of Christ Crucified.” He then added: “It is a journey of personal renewal, which calls us to become a permanent dwelling place for Christ and to repair, with our witness, the home of the Church and the world.”
2016 was also an extraordinary year: the 800th anniversary of the Pardon of Assisi occurred during the Jubilee of Mercy, a year strongly desired by the then Pope Francis. During his visit to the Portiuncula on August 4, the pontiff said: “The forgiveness for which Saint Francis became a 'channel' here at the Portiuncula continues to 'generate paradise' even after eight centuries. Offering a witness of mercy in today's world is a task none of us can avoid. The world needs forgiveness; too many people live locked in resentment and harbor hatred, incapable of forgiveness, ruining their own lives and those of others rather than finding the joy of serenity and peace. We ask Saint Francis to intercede for us, so that we may never give up being humble signs of forgiveness and instruments of mercy.”
Conditions for receiving the Portiuncula Indulgence (for oneself or for the deceased)
The Pardon of Assisi can be obtained from noon on August 1st to midnight on August 2nd in all Franciscan or parish churches, observing these conditions:
• Sacramental Confession to be in God's grace (in the eight days before or after);
• Participation in Mass and Eucharistic Communion;
• Visit to the Church of the Portiuncula or a Franciscan church or a parish church in the world, where the profession of faith is renewed, through the recitation of the Creed, to reaffirm one’s Christian identity;
• Recitation of the Our Father, to reaffirm one’s dignity as children of God, received in Baptism;
• A prayer according to the Pope’s intentions, to reaffirm one’s belonging to the Church, whose foundation and visible centre of unity is the Roman Pontiff.
The Pardon of Assisi represents a very precious spiritual gift, a symbol of mercy and the desire for universal salvation beloved by Saint Francis for all the faithful. This indulgence continues to be a timely sign of hope, mercy, and reconciliation, reminding us that no one is excluded from the possibility of forgiveness and that God’s mercy surpasses all human limits. This gesture invites each person to experience and offer forgiveness in their daily lives.
Photos from the OFM archive
