As 2025 comes to a close, the Jubilee Year proclaimed as Pilgrims of Hope gently gives way to a new chapter in the life of the Church. The Holy Doors have been closed, the major celebrations concluded, and the symbolic milestones completed.
Yet the Church does not step into 2026 with a sense of loss or spiritual emptiness. What remains is not silence, but a quieter, deeper call to live what has been celebrated.
Throughout the Jubilee Year, LiCAS News accompanied the Church of Asia as they navigated grace amid uncertainty, faith amid fragility. Hope was not merely preached from pulpits or inscribed on banners; it was tested, refined, and, in many places, painfully earned.
From celebration to commitment
A Holy Year, by its very nature, does not end at the threshold of a basilica. Theologically and pastorally, it sends believers back into the world, entrusted with what they have received.
The closing of the Holy Doors reminds the faithful that the Church herself must now become an open door, where mercy is practiced, not only proclaimed.
Across Asia, the Jubilee unfolded against stark realities. In Myanmar, ongoing violence and political instability continued to displace thousands, forcing families, including women, children, and the elderly, to live with uncertainty and loss.
LiCAS News repeatedly reported on the quiet endurance of communities there, where faith leaders and local Churches remained close to the suffering, offering presence, prayer, and humanitarian support amid fear and fatigue.
Elsewhere, the Jubilee spirit found expression in different but equally meaningful ways.
In the Philippines, young people stepped forward with creativity and conviction. Through initiatives such as Hackathon: Mission Possible, youth showcased innovative ideas aimed at addressing social challenges, from poverty and environmental degradation to education and digital inclusion.
Their engagement reflected a Church that trusts its young people not only to inherit the future, but to help shape it with conscience and compassion.
These contrasting realities, suffering and creativity, displacement and innovation, revealed a common thread: hope as a choice to remain engaged with the world, rather than retreat from it.
Walking together, even when the path is uneven
The Jubilee Year also unfolded alongside the Church’s ongoing synodal journey. Across Asia’s diverse cultural and social landscapes, synodality took shape through listening sessions, pastoral consultations, and renewed efforts to foster participation at all levels of ecclesial life.
LiCAS News reported not only moments of enthusiasm, but also the tensions inherent in this process.
In regions marked by conflict, minority status, or social polarization, walking together requires patience and courage. Yet, again and again, the desire to listen to God, to one another, and especially to those on the margins, emerged as a quiet but persistent grace.
As the Church enters 2026, synodality remains less a completed project than a way of being.
In a world increasingly fractured by ideology, fear, and misinformation, the call to dialogue, discernment, and shared responsibility takes on renewed urgency.
Hope that endures the weight of reality
The Jubilee theme Pilgrims of Hope resonated deeply precisely because 2025 was not an easy year. Economic pressures, environmental crises, armed conflicts, and rapid technological change continued to shape daily life across Asia.
Hope, in this context, was never presented as naive optimism or an escape from reality.
Rather, Christian hope appeared as a steady confidence rooted in God’s fidelity, often quiet, sometimes hidden, but remarkably resilient. It was visible in communities rebuilding after disaster, in families refusing to abandon one another despite hardship, and in faith leaders consistently calling for peace, dialogue, and respect for human dignity.
As LiCAS News bore witness to these realities, one truth became clear: hope matures when it is tested. It deepens when it is lived not at the center of comfort, but at the edge of uncertainty.
At the threshold of a new year
As the calendar turns to 2026, the Church pauses, neither to linger nostalgically in the past nor to rush anxiously into the future, but to entrust what lies ahead to God.
May the coming year be a time of light, when truth dispels fear and wisdom guides decisions made in homes, institutions, and nations.
May it be a year of shared sufficiency, when economic progress is measured not only by growth, but by care for the poor and vulnerable.
May it be a year of healing, for individuals and societies wounded by violence, injustice, and prolonged uncertainty.
Under the maternal care of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the communion of saints, the Church in Asia steps forward once more, not as a triumphant institution, but as a pilgrim people transformed by grace.
The Jubilee may have ended, but its call endures. In 2026, the pilgrims of hope are invited to become its witnesses, quietly, faithfully, and together.
Chainarong Monthienvichienchai is a founding member of the LiCAS News Board of Governors. For the past two decades, he has served as Vice Chairman of the Association of Catholic Education Council of Thailand. He was the world president of UNDA, the International Catholic Association for Radio and Television, founded in 1928, which merged with OCIC (cinema/audiovisual) in 2001 to form SIGNIS (World Catholic Association for Communication).
