The significant occasion of a Jubilee year was an opportunity for the Catholic Archbishop of the Melbourne Archdiocese, Peter Comensoli to join other pilgrims of hope for mass and a multicultural dinner in Mansfield on Saturday night.

The St Francis Xavier church was filled with parishioners, pilgrims, visitors from nearby parishes and guests from other Mansfield churches for the service which the archbishop presided over.

According to Mansfield parish priest Father George Feliciouz, jubilees are relatively rare occurrences.

“So, for those of us who might not be familiar with what they are, a jubilee is a special year of grace and conversion, involving prayer, pilgrimage and sacramental repentance, held every 25 years or during other years as called for by the Pope,” said Fr Feliciouz.

The most recent (ordinary) jubilee was the Great Jubilee of 2000.

For locals wanting to participate in the Jubilee and unable to travel to Rome for the Jubilee 2025: Pilgrims of Hope; the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne had 13 churches and shrines within the Archdiocese designated Pilgrim Places with St Patrick’s Cathedral, Melbourne as the principal location.

“The Holy Father Pope Francis of happy memory has called the universal church to this special time of grace, a time to focus on reconciliation and forgiveness, prayer and reflection, sojourn and pilgrimage,” said Fr Feliciouz.

Its purpose is a time to focus on hope.

Archbishop Comensoli who has held his current role since 2018, recalled his last visit to Mansfield was for the installation of Fr Feliciouz in 2021.

Being the largest diocese in the Oceania region, the Archdiocese of Melbourne has multiple pilgrim places across each of the Victorian regions—north, south, east and west—making it easier for all in the Archdiocese to participate in the Jubilee.

Rural and regional areas and migrant communities are not forgotten, with pilgrim places in Mansfield and Trentham, as well as the Mornington Peninsula, and several migrant shrines.

St Francis Xavier is one of those pilgrim places and one that the archbishop chose for his own pilgrimage.

Fr. Feliciouz says more than 1000 pilgrims have visited Mansfield throughout the Jubilee year.

Archbishop Comensoli’s sermon was taken from St Paul’s second letter to Timothy and his mission journeys to proclaim the good news.

“Timothy’s calling as a bishop, a successor of the apostle, came from the spirit of the Lord as strength, love and self-control; it was not a spirit of timidity or reticence about the gospel,” he said.

Archbishop Comensoli admitted that as a bishop himself, this description was confronting as to what this calling entails.

But with the grace of Jesus Christ comes hope and joy he reminded us.

“In this year of Jubilee and as pilgrims of hope, Timothy stands for us as a wonderful witness how to live out our faith with youthful vibrancy, so as to build a young church in Christ,” he concluded.

Following mass in the church the archbishop, parishioners and guests made their way to the St Mary’s Hall for a welcoming multi-cultural dinner which was well attended.

Several small presentations were made to Archbishop Comensoli, representatives from other local denominations; Edwin Harris for the Uniting Church and Stuart Bett on behalf of the Anglican church; and to Maree Sellstrom from the Mansfield Rural Australians for Refugees (RAR).

There were several performances by the younger members of the parish including singing, dancing and theatre.

The archbishop was most obliging with numerous requests for group photos and met with the various people from different backgrounds and cultures throughout the dinner.