The Bishop celebrated Mass at Nottingham Cathedral on the Feast of the Holy Family.
The Bishop of Nottingham officially closed the 2025 Jubilee Year, during Mass celebrated on the Feast of the Holy Family, at St Barnabas Cathedral.
The Jubilee year was inaugurated by the late Pope Francis on Christmas Eve 2024, who chose the theme ‘Pilgrims of Hope.’
Throughout 2025, Nottingham Diocese has marked the Jubilee with 35 different celebrations (including the first and final Jubilee Mass), honouring Eucharistic Ministers; Married Couples; young people and musicians, to name a few.
The Mass, which began at 11:15am, also saw the return of the Jubilee Icon, which has been touring England and Wales throughout the year.
The Jubilee Icon was commissioned by CAFOD, who approached the Ethiopian iconographer Mulugeta Araya, to write it.
The icon depicts Jesus’ reading from the scroll of Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.” (Luke 4:18-19)
CAFOD chose an Ethiopian iconographer because they wanted to make clear that the Jubilee Year is for the whole universal Church, while highlighting the fragile situation in the province of Tigray, from where the iconographer hails.
The people of Tigray are facing hunger and homelessness due to armed conflict, drought, irregular rains and poor soil.
Bishop Patrick McKinney concluded the Jubilee Mass with the following prayer:
“Brothers and sisters, at the conclusion of the Jubilee Year we join our voices with the song of the whole Church that today offers its thanksgiving to God for the gift of his indulgence.
“Through the sacraments, pilgrimage, prayer and charity we have had an intense experience of the divine mercy: the Lord has washed away our sins and filled us with his grace. During this Year, in the movement of the liturgical cycle, we have entered fully into the mystery of Christ in faith, hope and love.
“Now, strengthened by the experience of conversion, let us go back to the daily round of our lives. Like the disciples who saw his face, we shall hold on to the joy of our meeting with the Lord and firmly maintain the profession of our hope, for he is faithful to his promises.”
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