By Courtney Mares
Vatican City, Jan 16, 2025 / 09:30 am
The Vatican’s top diplomat has called the gradual release of 553 prisoners in Cuba “a sign of great hope” at the beginning of the Catholic Church’s jubilee year.
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state, also commented on U.S. President Joe Biden’s commutation of death sentences for 37 death row inmates, expressing hope that there will be more “gestures of clemency” from governments throughout the 2025 holy year.
Jubilee years in the biblical tradition included the liberation of slaves and the forgiveness of debts, as described in the Book of Leviticus, which proclaimed liberty and restoration every 50 years as a divine act of justice and mercy.
The Cuban government’s announcement of the prisoner release dated Jan. 14 cited “the spirit of the Ordinary Jubilee of 2025” and noted Pope Francis’ mediation in the negotiations, in which the U.S.
