This whole Holy Year business ... one starts to wonder.
I was surprised to read that today, Sunday 12 January 2020, will be the official end of the
Holy Year of Santo Domingo de la Calzada or
Año Jubilar Calceatense which began on 26 April 2019, complete with a bull from the Vatican, a special Holy Door or Puerta del Perdón and the granting of Plenary Indulgence to those who come to venerate the relics of the Saint and perform the necessary rituals or task. There was barely a mention of this on the forum; were Camino peregrinos even aware of it when they walked through SDdlC in 2019?
And as to Loreto, the famous Marian pilgrimage shrine since the Middle Ages, the Vatican had just announced the solemn proclamation of the
Lauretan Holy Year which began on 8 December 2019 and will end on 10 December 2020, of course also with a Holy Door and the granting of Plenary Indulgence to the faithful. Somewhat surprisingly, there are arrangements so that airport chapels anywhere in the world can request to be linked to this Loreto Holy Year, and I quote, "so that the Plenary Indulgence linked to the Jubilee of Loreto can also be received in the Airport Chapel".
In a distant world a long time ago where you had to travel to particular places at particular times to receive a Plenary Indulgence, these Holy Years made sense. But now ...? I guess special festive circumstances may make the faithful more reflective and perhaps more receptive but still ... one wonders. Of course, for Santiago, there's a centuries old tradition to uphold!
Just to avoid misunderstandings: this is not about Plenary Indulgence, it is about the purpose of Holy Years, of which there seem to be many these days.