7 U.S. Sites To Visit for St Francis’ Jubilee Year

If you can make it to California, you could visit all of the California Missions as a not-so-mini pilgrimage. They were all founded by Franciscans.

From Aleteia

By Theresa Civantos Barber 

If you’d like to obtain the Plenary Indulgence for this year's Franciscan Jubilee and visit one of the sites, check out these 7 in the U.S.

In a world that cries out for peace and justice, Pope Leo XIV proclaimed a special Franciscan Jubilee Year running from January 10, 2026, to January 10, 2027. This Jubilee marks 800 years since the death of St. Francis of Assisi, one of the most beloved saints of all time. 

For this extraordinary occasion, there is the possibility of obtaining a Plenary Indulgence under the usual conditions — detachment from all sin, going to Confession, receiving Communion, and praying for the Pope’s intentions — alongside a pilgrimage to a site dedicated to St. Francis’s order, meaning any Franciscan conventual church or sanctuary named after St. Francis. The sick, elderly, and homebound can also obtain the Plenary Indulgence by offering their prayers and sufferings to God spiritually.

St. Francis has been part of the American story since the first arrival of Europeans. Franciscans established a mission at the site of the first Thanksgiving Mass in Florida in the 1500s, while the Franciscan missionary, St. Junipero Serra, established missions on the West Coast in the 1700s.

If you’d like to obtain the Plenary Indulgence and visit one of the Franciscan sites, check out these 7 sites in the U.S. and read more about them here. You also might live near other possible sites not on this list, such as if you have a local parish named for St. Francis. Hopefully you can make it to at least one of them before the end of the Franciscan Jubilee Year!

The Franciscan Sites

1National Shrine of St. Francis of Assisi, San Francisco, CA

Founded in 1849 before California was even a state, this North Beach church survived the 1906 earthquake and now houses relics of Sts. Francis, Clare, and Anthony of Padua.

2Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land in America, Washington, DC

Built in 1899 on "Mount Saint Sepulcher," this stunning site offers full-size replicas of Holy Land shrines, including the tomb of Christ, for pilgrims who can't make the trip to Jerusalem.

3Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, Santa Fe, NM

The mother church of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe holds La Conquistadora, believed to be the oldest Marian image in the United States.

4The California Mission Churches

Franciscans established 21 missions along the California coast between 1769 and 1823, nine of them founded personally by St. Junípero Serra.

5The Franciscan Center, Tampa, FL

Founded on land donated by a local attorney in 1965, this riverside retreat center has offered spiritual refreshment under the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany since 1970.

6Graymoor: Holy Mountain Franciscan Retreat, Garrison, NY

Founded in 1898 by Fr. Paul Wattson and Mother Lurana White, this hillside community is now the motherhouse of the Franciscan Friars and Sisters of the Atonement and home to the largest outdoor shrine to St. Anthony in the country.

7Mission Nombre de Dios, St. Augustine, FL

Marking the site of the first Catholic Mass offered in what is now the United States in 1565, this Franciscan mission, formally established in 1587, is anchored by a 208-foot steel cross visible for miles.

The history of the Jubilee

The Jubilee invites reflection on the core pillars of Franciscan spirituality: living simply, promoting peace, and caring for creation. It’s a chance to ask ourselves: “How can we live more like St. Francis?” Immediately following the Jubilee Year of Hope, this Jubilee Year of St. Francis invites all pilgrims to transform hope into action, following the example of St. Francis of Assisi to become models of holiness and witnesses of peace.

A number of events around the world were planned to honor his life. St. Francis’ relics were displayed in Assisi earlier this year and Franciscan communities around the world will mark the 800th anniversary of his death on October 3, 2026, with a traditional Transitus Commemoration. 

This Jubilee Year calls on all of us to be peacemakers, bridge builders, heralds of the Gospel and messengers of Christ’s limitless love—in the footsteps of St. Francis.