Pope Francis extends the Loreto jubilee until 2021

Pope Francis approved the extension of the Jubilee Year of Loreto to 2021.

The decision was announced on August 14 by Archbishop Fabio Dal Cin, Prelate of the Shrine of Our Lady of Loreto, Italy, after the recitation of the rosary on the Vigil of the Assumption.

The jubilee year, which began on 8 December 2019, marks the centenary of the official proclamation of Our Lady of Loreto as the patroness of pilots and air passengers. The jubilee was supposed to end on December 10 this year, the feast of Our Lady of Loreto, but now it will last until December 10, 2021, due to interruptions due to the coronavirus crisis.

According to the official website of the jubilee year, Dal Cin described the gesture as a "great gift" for those linked to aviation, as well as for the devotees of Our Lady of Loreto.

“In this difficult moment for humanity, Holy Mother Church gives us another 12 months to start afresh from Christ, letting us be accompanied by Mary, a sign of consolation and sure hope for all,” he said.

The extension was authorized by a decree issued by the Apostolic Penitentiary, the department of the Roman Curia that oversees indulgences, and signed by the Major Penitentiary, Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, and by the Regent, Msgr. Krzysztof Józef Nykiel.

According to tradition, the Holy House of Mary was transported by angels from the Holy Land to the Italian hilltop town overlooking the Adriatic Sea. Due to this connection with the flight, Pope Benedict XV declared the Madonna of Loreto patroness of aviators in March 1920.

The jubilee began last December with the opening of the Holy Door at the Basilica of the Holy House in Loreto, in the presence of the Vatican secretary of state Cardinal Pietro Parolin.

Catholics who visit the basilica during the jubilee can obtain a plenary indulgence under the usual conditions.

A plenary indulgence requires that an individual be in a state of grace and have complete detachment from sin. The person must also sacramentally confess his sins and receive Communion and pray for the intentions of the pope.

The indulgence is also available for Catholics who visit other shrines dedicated to Our Lady of Loreto, as well as chapels in civil and military airports, where the local bishop has requested it.

There is an official hymn for the jubilee year, by the composer Msgr. Marco Frisina, as well as an official prayer and logo.

Dal Cin said that the extension of the jubilee year was the latest in a series of acts by Pope Francis that highlighted devotion to Our Lady of Loreto.

“During this year, the Holy Father has repeatedly expressed his closeness to the Shrine of the Holy House: in his visit on 25 March 2019, when he signed the apostolic exhortation to young people Christus vivit; in the granting and extension of the Loreto Jubilee Year; in the inscription on 10 December in the Roman calendar of the optional memory of the Blessed Virgin of Loreto; and finally with the inclusion in the Litanies of Loreto of three new invocations, “Mater Misericordiae”, “Mater Spei”. and "Solacium migrantium" "