Italian Naval Ship Designated as Jubilee Year Church

Rome, January 14, 2025: The Italian naval ship Amerigo Vespucci has been designated as a Jubilee church for the 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope. According to a statement from the ship’s press office on January 9, Archbishop Santo Marcianò of the Military Ordinariate of Italy had announced the designation of the vessel as a Jubilee church. The statement said that the Amerigo Vespucci will be a jubilee site “for sacred pilgrimages and pious visits among its missions at sea.”

The Amerigo Vespucci, commissioned in 1931, has served as a cultural ambassador for Italy since July 2023. From the time it embarked on its journey, it has made stops in cities such as Los Angeles, Tokyo, Mumbai, Doha, and Abu Dhabi. Despite lacking a formal chapel, Holy Mass is celebrated by the ship's chaplain in its indoor atrium or on its quarterdeck when weather conditions permit.

In the press statement, Archbishop Marcianò explained that the designation of the Amerigo Vespucci as a jubilee site highlights its mission to foster hope and spiritual growth among military personnel. “The church, that lives within the military, also aims to create signs during the jubilee year that reflect the hope that the church and the world place in God and that God entrusts to the military world,” he said. He added that sacred Jubilee sites, like the Vespucci, enable sailors to receive spiritual benefits, including the plenary indulgence associated with the Holy Year.

“The ship’s chaplain, Fr. Don Mauro Medaglini, will perform the task of accompanying the sailors in this precious time of the jubilee,” Archbishop Marcianò said in the statement. He also highlighted the ship's long tradition of hosting chaplains who have “silently but very effectively” supported the spiritual life of the ship's crew over the years. “This year, during the Jubilee of Hope, they will provide this support in a special way," he added.

During the Jubilee Year, Catholics can obtain a plenary indulgence by making pilgrimages to a cathedral, church, or shrine in their diocese that has been designated by their bishop as a jubilee site. Other ways to obtain the indulgence include going on a pilgrimage to Rome, praying in specific churches there, engaging in works of mercy, fasting from social media, and offering volunteer service.

By Catholic Connect Reporter