Was 2021 the year of St. Joseph?

Was 2021 the year of St. Joseph?

On the 150th anniversary of Blessed Pius IX’s proclamation of St. Joseph as the Patron of the Universal Church, Pope Francis declared the Year of St. Joseph. The year honoring St. Joseph began on December 8, 2020, and concluded December 8, 2021.

The Apostolic Penitentiary made this announcement on December 8, 2020:

Today marks 150 years since the Decree Quemadmodum Deus, with which Bl. Pius IX, moved by the grave and sorrowful circumstances in which the Church was threatened by mankind’s hostility, declared Saint Joseph the Patron of the Catholic Church.

In order to perpetuate the entrustment of the whole Church to the powerful patronage of the Guardian of Jesus, Pope Francis has established that, from today’s date, the anniversary of the Decree of the proclamation as well as a day sacred to the Blessed Immaculate Virgin and Bride of Joseph most chaste, until 8 December 2021, a special Year of Saint Joseph will be celebrated, in which all faithful, after his example, may daily reinforce their own life of faith in complete fulfilment of God’s will.

All the faithful will thus have the opportunity to commit themselves, with prayer and good works, to obtain, with the help of St Joseph, head of the heavenly Family of Nazareth, comfort and relief from the serious human and social tribulations that besiege the contemporary world today.