TILMA

Bishop John Dolan made his first-ever pilgrimage to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City on March 30. He carried with him the intentions of the Diocese of Phoenix and entrusted TILMA, his seven-year pastoral plan on evangelization, to Our Lady of Guadalupe. She is both the bishop’s inspiration for the historic initiative and the patroness of the Phoenix Diocese.  In his first pastoral letter, released in October 2024, Bishop Dolan shared his love for Our Lady of Guadalupe who “just like Juan Diego’s simple tilma, she desires to transform us into image bearers of Christ and great evangelizers of her motherly love.” 

Last week, Bishop John Dolan kicked off the 2025 Jubilee Year in the Diocese of Phoenix by celebrating six special Masses throughout the state. He was joined by hundreds of parishioners and pilgrims from around the diocese at each of the Masses, which had overflowing crowds and were celebrated at the Jubilee pilgrimage sites decreed by Bishop Dolan in October 2024.  

It was not even a month after being declared a pilgrimage site in 2000 that St. Anthony Mission in Sacaton, Ariz., was up in flames, the fire caused by arson. Because of the fire, St. Anthony did not have that year of pilgrimage. Now, 25 years later, the new St. Anthony Mission Church stands as a beacon of hope not just for the Gila River Indian Community but for the whole Diocese of Phoenix.  It was at the dedication Mass in June of 2024 that Bishop John Dolan announced that St. Anthony Mission would be a pilgrimage site during the 2025 Jubilee year of hope.  

With descriptions such as “wonderful,” “beautiful” and “exciting,” worshippers formally welcomed Bishop John Dolan’s seven-year pastoral plan on evangelization and the opening of the Catholic Church’s 2025 Jubilee year in the Diocese of Phoenix on Saturday night at Ss. Simon and Jude Cathedral in Phoenix. Bishop Dolan presided at the first of six opening Masses throughout the diocese, launching his blueprint and ushering in the Jubilee year of hope declared by Pope Francis earlier this year. 

Saturday, Dec. 28 will be an exciting day for the Diocese of Phoenix, as Bishop John Dolan celebrates the first of six opening Masses to kick-off his seven-year pastoral plan on evangelization throughout the diocese and officially open the 2025 Jubilee Year. The inaugural Mass will be celebrated at 4:30 p.m. at Ss. Simon and Jude Cathedral in Phoenix in tandem with Pope Francis’ decree for every diocesan bishop to “celebrate Holy Mass as the solemn opening of the Jubilee Year” in every cathedral and co-cathedral throughout the world that same weekend, which he announced in his encyclical Spes non confundit.