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The Jubilee icon

The Jubilee icon

This Jubilee icon was painted by Mulugeta Araya from Ethiopia.

In order to celebrate and commemorate the Jubilee Year 2025, Pilgrims of Hope, CAFOD commissioned an icon from artist Mulugeta Araya in Ethiopia, for the Catholic Church in England and Wales.

Ethiopia was chosen because of the strong tradition of iconography within the country and to demonstrate that this is a global Jubilee - not just something that is happening in England and Wales.

Mulugeta.JPG

About the artist

Mulugeta Araya, 30, is an artist and an engineer who studied at St Mary's College, Wukro, in Ethiopia, which is supported by CAFOD.

St Mary's offers vocational training for young people in agriculture, IT and accounting as well as the arts. The college also takes part in programmes to improve food security, the supply of water, and emergency response in the area.

Tigray, the region in northern Ethiopia where the artist lives, is experiencing armed conflict, which has forced hundreds of thousands of people to leave their homes. Increasing droughts, irregular rains and poor soil mean many families are struggling to get enough to eat.

This is particularly relevant given the Jubilee Year's focus on those struggling with poverty. The challenges of painting an icon in this situation inspire us to reflect on the Jubilee text and this icon in a new light.

Find out more about our work in Ethiopia

The scriptural basis of the icon

The icon interprets Jesus' teaching of healing and liberation in the Synagogue in Luke 4:16-21, which refers to Isaiah 61:1-2. This passage is particularly relevant to the Jubilee given its emphasis on bringing good news to those who are poor, and liberty to those who are captive or oppressed.

In this passage, Jesus reads from the scroll of Isaiah as follows:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour. ”

Luke 4:18-19

As Jesus finishes teaching, and rolls the scroll away, he declares that he has come to fulfill this Scripture.

The icon's meaning

The icon portrays Jesus faithfully in the Northern Ethiopian tradition and is consistent with Ethiopian facial expressions and clothing, such as the women's head coverings.

Take a moment now to explore the meaning contained within the icon.

Jubilee icon annotated

  1. The crowd gathered to listen to Jesus includes men, women and children. Old and young. Their body language shows that they are engaged with the Word of God. Their eyes are fixed on Jesus. The people are hungry for this truth.

  2. Jesus looks out into the world. His gaze encompasses all people, not just this crowd, and his teaching is for all time.

  3. The woman with a stick at the front shows Jesus' concern for those who are often overlooked in our society, such as the elderly, the vulnerable and those living with a disability.

  4. The golden halo shows that Jesus is divine and the Son of God. Gold leaf is used in icons when depicting the Trinity and holy people. However, it was not possible to obtain gold leaf in Ethiopia because of the fragile state of the area in which the artist lives. Paint was used instead. The challenge of painting an icon in such turbulent times and with limited materials is a powerful testament to the artist's ingenuity, and inspires us to reflect again on the Jubilee message.

  5. Jesus' right hand is raised to show that he is teaching.

  6. This man holds a leather bag used to carry and protect the Holy Bible in Ethiopia.

  7. The words of the Scripture are written in Ge'ez, an Ethiopian liturgical language.

  8. The rainbow is a symbol of hope and of God's covenant with all people bridging the Old and New Testaments, and which will lead to liberation.

  9. The brick wall shows the separation between God's house - the Synagogue - and the outside world. Jesus has come into an open space where the crowds can gather together on equal terms, unlike the required segregation in the Synagogue and the Temple. Here the Good News and the Jubilee liberation are for the whole world.