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Pastoral Letter “Joy and Jubilee”
released on 22nd of September 2024 :
Bishop Paolo Martinelli, OFM Cap., Apostolic Vicar of Southern Arabia, reflects on the Jubilee Year of St Arethas, the joy and fruits it brought to the vicariate, and invites to deeper prayer following the call of Pope Francis looking towards the Jubilee 2025.
In his new pastoral letter "Joy and Jubilee", released on 22nd of September 2024, Bp Paolo Martinelli, OFM Cap., Apostolic Vicar of Southern Arabia, marks the end of the extraordinary Jubilee Year of Saint Arethas, reflecting on the rich experiences of the past year, the joy and fruits it brought to our community, and looks ahead to the universal Church's Jubilee 2025, inviting to deeper prayer following the call of Pope Francis.
The Jubilee Year has left a lasting impact. Bp Paolo announces that the feast of Saint Arethas will now be celebrated annually on October 24th, ensuring that the memory of the Arabian martyrs continues to inspire us. “They constitute a deep root of the tree in which we find ourselves today. We are called to inhabit with faith this land”, he stresses. This decision emphasizes the importance of local spiritual heritage in shaping the identity of the Church in the Gulf.
"After having celebrated the holy martyrs of Arabia for a whole year, we are more aware that being Christians in the Gulf means belonging to this Church in the Gulf. We are not only faithful who come from different churches: here, we all together form the Catholic Church in Arabia", the Bishop writes. With members hailing from over 100 countries, “we have a unique experience of the universality of the Church”. He also invites to go beyond continuing the path of ecumenical and interfaith dialogue.
Looking ahead to the upcoming Jubilee 2025, the bishop notes that its theme "Pilgrims of Hope” resonates deeply with the migrant faithful of the Gulf, for whom hope is not just a theological concept but a lived reality. In preparation for this significant event, Bp Paolo calls for a renewed emphasis on prayer.
"I invite all the faithful to prepare well for the Holy Year 2025 by getting into the mode of prayer," he urges, providing an overview of Christian prayer, touching on the centrality of the Eucharist, the power of God's Word, the significance of the “Our Father”, the richness of the Liturgy of the Hours, and the value of personal, familial and community prayer like the Rosary and Adoration.
The Bishop invites us to constant prayer, which he describes not as unceasing verbal communication but as maintaining a continuous desire for God throughout daily life: “your desire is your prayer”, says saint Augustin. This perspective offers a practical approach to spirituality for the busy faithful of the modern world.
As the Catholic community in the Gulf moves from one Jubilee to another, Bp Paolo's letter serves as both a reflection on past blessings and a roadmap for future spiritual growth. It challenges us to deepen our prayer lives, strengthen our sense of community, and bear joyful witness to our faith.Read or Download the PDF