Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State, will preside over the solemn celebration of the closure of the Jubilee of the 800 Years of the Pardon of Assisi (1216), which will be held at the Chapel of the Portiuncula Assisi, Umbria, in Central Italy, on August 2, 2017, at 11:00 am, indicates the Franciscans’ official site.
Pope Francis visited Assisi for a private pilgrimage to the Portiuncula Chapel on August 4, 2016, two days after the opening of the Jubilee.
The celebrations will be preceded by a Triduum of preparation, preached by the Ministers General of the three Franciscan masculine Orders.
On Aug. 1, at 11:00 am, Father Michael A. Perry, Minister General of the Friars Minor, will preside over a Solemn Eucharistic Celebration, which will end with the procession of the “Opening of the Pardon”: from midday of August 1 to midnight of August 2. Pilgrims who go to Assisi will receive a Plenary Indulgence.
In the afternoon, Vespers will be presided over by Monsignor Domenico Sorrentino. The evening Prayer Vigil with a torchlight procession will be led by Monsignor Jose Rodriguez Carballo, Secretary of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life.
On August 2, there will be a Eucharistic Celebration almost every hour and Confessions the whole day. An evening concert will be followed by fireworks in the Portiuncula Square, closing the celebration.
The Pardon of Assisi is accorded to pilgrims who come to the Portiuncula to receive the Plenary Indulgence. Saint Francis obtained this privilege from Pope Honorius III in 1216. Every year, on August 2, the Indulgence is extended to Franciscan parish churches throughout the world.
