Catholics will have plenty to celebrate in 2025, a year punctuated by massive Jubilee events in Rome.
Here’s a run-down of things to look out for in the next 12 months.
Beatifications and canonizations
A big year for blesseds begins Jan. 12, with the beatification of the Italian priest Giovanni Merlini (1795-1873) in Rome’s Archbasilica of St. John Lateran.
Other beatifications on the calendar include:
Mária Magdolna Bódi (1921-1945), who will be beatified April 26 in Veszprém, Hungary.
Petro Pavlo Oros (1917-1953), due to be beatified May 3 in Bilky, Ukraine.
Camille Costa de Beauregard (1841-1910), scheduled for beatification May 17 in Chambéry, France.
Stanisław Kostka Streich (1902-1938), who will be beatified May 24 in Poznań, Poland.
Marta Klomfass and 14 Companions († 1945), due to be beatified May 31 in Braniewo, Poland.
Further possible blesseds for 2025 are Francis Xavier Truong Buu Diep (1897-1946), Floribert Bwana Chui Bin Kositi (1981-2007), Eduard Profittlich (1890-1942), and Elia Comini (1910-1944).
As for saints, two huge canonizations are planned for 2025. Bl. Carlo Acutis (1991-2006) will be proclaimed the first millennial saint April 27 in St. Peter’s Square. He will be followed by Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati (1901-1925), who will be canonized Aug. 3 at Tor Vergata, Rome.
The less well-known Bl. Maria Troncatti (1883-1969), an Italian missionary in Ecuador, is also due for canonization, following the recognition of a second miracle attributed to her intercession in November. But there is no date as yet.
Metropolitan makeovers and curial changes
If he wishes, Pope Francis could continue the series of appointments to major metropolitan sees that he began in 2023. Over the past two years, he has given “metropolitan makeovers” to Argentina, Belgium, Canada, France, Honduras, the Philippines, Spain, and the U.S.
When choosing new leaders for prominent archdioceses, the pope has tended to pass over candidates in their 60s in favor of less experienced, lower-profile bishops in their 50s known for their pastoral style.
Pope Francis is soon expected to name successors to Cardinal Wilton Gregory in Washington, D.C., and Cardinal Christoph Schönborn in Austria’s capital, Vienna.
Other possible appointments include:
A new Archbishop of Westminster, England, to succeed the 79-year-old Cardinal Vincent Nichols.
A new Archbishop of Kraków, Poland, to replace the 75-year-old Archbishop Marek Jędraszewski.
A new Archbishop of Colombo, Sri Lanka, succeeding the 77-year-old Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith,
A new archbishop for Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to succeed Cardinal Orani João Tempesta, who turns 75 June 23.
There could also be some turnover within the Roman Curia, as several dicastery heads are over 75, including:
Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, the 77-year-old prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints
Cardinal João Braz de Aviz, the 77-year-old prefect of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.
Cardinal Kevin Farrell, the ubiquitous 77-year-old prefect of the Dicastery for the Laity, Family, and Life.
Cardinal Michael Czerny, S.J., the 78-year-old prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.
Meanwhile, Cardinal Kurt Koch, the Swiss prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, will celebrate his 75th birthday March 15.
Cardinal Seán O’Malley could pass on the baton this year as president of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, given he is 80 years old.
Big anniversaries
A series of notable anniversaries begins Feb. 12, with the 10th anniversary of the beheading of 21 Coptic martyrs in Libya, who Pope Francis enrolled in the Roman Martyrology in a major ecumenical gesture.
Other significant dates include the 20th anniversary of Fatima seer Sr. Lúcia’s death (Feb. 13), the 30th anniversary of the encyclical Evangelium vitae (March 25), the 20th anniversary of St. John Paul II’s death (April 2), the 20th anniversary of Pope Benedict XVI’s election (April 19), the 10th anniversary of the encyclical Laudato si’ (May 24), and the 175th anniversary of the restoration of the Catholic hierarchy in England and Wales (Sept. 29).
This year also marks the 60th anniversaries of the conciliar decrees Christus Dominus, Perfectae caritatis, Optatam totius, Gravissimum educationis, and Nostra aetate (Oct. 28), as well as Dei verbum and Apostolicam actuositatem (Nov. 18).
Also reaching its 60th anniversary will be the historic Letter of Reconciliation of the Polish Bishops to the German Bishops (Nov. 18).
And we’ll see the centenary of St. Thérèse of Lisieux’s canonization (May 17) and the 75th anniversary of the definition of the dogma of the Assumption (Nov. 1).
Arguably the biggest anniversary of all falls June 19: the 1,700th anniversary of the opening of the First Council of Nicaea, which forged the Nicene Creed.
