Antilles Bishops: Jubilee Ends, but the Journey of Hope Continues

As the universal Church closes the Jubilee Year 2025, the Bishops of the Antilles have called the faithful to see the year not as an ending, but as a threshold—a moment of grace that must now shape the Church’s future.

In a pastoral letter issued by the Antilles Episcopal Conference (AEC), December 18 and titled ‘The Journey Continues—Walking Together in Faith and Struggle’, the bishops reflect on the Jubilee theme, Hope does not disappoint (Rom 5:5), describing it as more than a slogan. Instead, they say it became a lived experience across the dioceses, reminding the Church that Christian hope is “not a denial of suffering, but trust in God’s faithful love that accompanies history and transforms it from within.”

The bishops note that the Jubilee unfolded alongside the Church’s ongoing synodal journey, highlighting the close link between hope and synodality. Walking together as Church, they write, requires patience, humility and perseverance—graces that the Jubilee has helped to awaken. Hope, they add, steadies the Church when the path forward is unclear and sustains the difficult work of listening and discernment.

One of the strongest themes in the letter is the call to face darkness honestly. The bishops acknowledge experiences of fear, failure and brokenness within both society and the Church, insisting that faith does not require denial. Drawing on Caribbean cultural symbols such as the Steelpan, Calypso and Revival music—all born from struggle, they affirm that brokenness can become a place where grace enters.

“Like the disciples on the road to Emmaus,” the letter states, “Christ meets us precisely on the road of struggle.” When embraced with trust, darkness becomes a space where compassion and communion are formed.

The Jubilee Year also renewed the call to conversion—from self-centredness to shared responsibility. Quoting St Paul’s call to be “transformed by the renewal of your mind” (Rom 12:2), the bishops urge a shift from “I” to “we”, where bishops, clergy, religious and laity walk together in discernment. Such conversion, they acknowledge, demands humility and vulnerability, but leads from fear to freedom.

While synodality is often spoken of with enthusiasm, the bishops stress that it must be expressed through accountable leadership, formation, and credible processes. At the same time, the Jubilee has already borne fruit, deepening communion and renewing joy where genuine listening has taken place.

As the Jubilee Year closes, the bishops emphasise that synodality is “not a temporary initiative but a way of life the Spirit is forming within us.” Entrusting the journey ahead to Our Lady of Guadalupe, they call the Church in the Antilles to move forward with renewed hope—listening deeply, walking together courageously, and witnessing faithfully to the Gospel.