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Catholic Aid Agency CAFOD has commissioned a special icon to celebrate and commemorate 2025's "Pilgrims of Hope" Jubilee Year. The icon - created by Mulugeta Araya, an Ethiopian artist and engineer - was blessed by Cardinal Vincent Nichols during the Adoremus celebrations at St Mary's College Oscott on 14 September.

Mulugeta Araya (aged 30) studied at St Mary’s College in Wukro, Ethiopia, which is supported by CAFOD. The college offers vocational training to young people in agriculture, IT, accounting and the arts while also participating in programmes to improve food security, the supply of water, and emergency response in the area.

Ethiopia has a strong tradition of iconography and was chosen to demonstrate that the Jubilee is a global event – not just something that is happening in England and Wales. The icon portrays Jesus in the Northern Ethiopian tradition and is consistent with Ethiopian facial expressions and clothing, such as the women’s head coverings.

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.

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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:

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.

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‍Source: cafod.org.uk, Image: CBCEW/Marcin Mazur