We’re halfway through the Jubilee Year 2025. What lies ahead?
For half a year, we have journeyed together as “Pilgrims of Hope” in this special Jubilee Year of 2025. Together, we got off to a particularly impactful start as we took Jubilee action to urge then-President Joe Biden to commute the sentences of 40 men on federal death row before leaving office. In a historic and life-saving decision on December 23, 2024, President Biden commuted 37 of those 40 sentences.
CMN has continued to manifest “tangible signs of hope” in our midst through our work to end the death penalty, advance justice, and begin healing in the spirit of Jubilee.
As we kick off the Summer months, we want to share with you some of the many opportunities to look forward to throughout the rest of the year:
St. Maximilian Kolbe’s Feast Day
Our patron saint’s feast day will be August 14th. Saint Maximilian Kolbe was a Catholic priest and a conventual Franciscan friar. He was executed in the Nazi death camp of Auschwitz on August 14, 1941, dying from a lethal injection of carbolic acid in a starvation cell after he volunteered to take the place of a man who was in line to be executed. He is the patron saint of prisoners, families, and the pro-life movement.
You can watch our video about him by clicking below.
National Catholic Ministry Leaders Experience to Montgomery & Selma, AL
Join us on November 5-7, 2025 for a life-changing experience in Alabama to reflect on the legacy of racial injustice in the U.S. criminal legal system and discern how the Church is called to advance truth-telling and healing.
National Catholic Conference on Restorative Justice
Join us September 25-27, 2025 in Atlanta, Georgia for CMN’s biennial conference. The 2025 conference will highlight practical and innovative ways that people of faith collaborate with local communities and system actors to build hope-filled justice solutions.
Respect Life Month
The Catholic Church has designated October as Respect Life Month in the United States. Throughout this month, we are called to engage in education, advocacy, and prayer around critical life issues. This is an excellent opportunity to engage your community on the topic of the death penalty.
Novena to End the Death Penalty
Each year, CMN kicks off Respect Life Month with a special novena dedicated to the intention of death penalty abolition. These nine days of prayer prepare us to celebrate World Day Against the Death Penalty.
World Day Against the Death Penalty
The 23rd World Day Against the Death Penalty will be on Friday, October 10, 2025. Each year, World Day Against the Death Penalty commemorates efforts around the world to end the practice of capital punishment.
Jubilee Day for Prisoners
Pope Francis designated December 14, 2025, as the Jubilee Day for Prisoners. With nearly two million people in the United States who are incarcerated, detained, or awaiting execution, the Church is called to participate in restorative practices in order to uphold the dignity of all those impacted by the criminal justice system. In this way, the Church continues Christ’s mission and becomes his hands and feet on earth.
