The Papal document on the mystery of the Incarnation, Incarnationis Mysterium, decrees that the Great Jubilee Year will begin on Christmas Eve, 1999 and will continue until the Feast of the Epiphany, 2001.

Pilgrimage has always been a significant part of the life of the faithful. It is an exercise of practical asceticism and mortification, of repentance for human weakness, and of interior preparation leading to a change of heart. Since, for reasons of time and economics, it is not possible for all to undertake pilgrimages to Rome or the Holy Land, the Church grants to the Bishop of a diocese permission to designate certain churches, including the Cathedral church and other places to which the faithful may undertake sacred pilgrimages, accruing unto themselves spiritual benefits as if the pilgrims were to undertake a pilgrimage to Rome or to places in the Holy Land.

Another distinctive sign associated with the Jubilee is the indulgence. The indulgence discloses the fullness of the Father's mercy, who offers everyone his love, expressed primarily in the forgiveness of sins. Having received from Christ the power to forgive in His name, the Church is in the world as the living presence of the love of God who leans down to every human weakness in order to gather it into the embrace of His mercy. This diffusion of God's mercy in the world from very ancient times has been called "indulgence".