While calling himself an “old man” and saying he never expected to be pope this long, Pope Francis said he still has dreams for the future.

“We must not stumble upon tomorrow, we must build it, and we all have the responsibility to do so in a way that responds to the project of God, which is none other than the happiness of mankind, the centrality of mankind, without excluding anyone,” the 88-year-old pope wrote in his autobiography.

“Hope: The Autobiography” was written with the Italian editor Carlo Musso beginning in 2019. The book was released Jan. 14 in its original Italian and in 17 other languages in about 100 countries. Random House published the book in the United States.

The original plan, Musso said, was for the book to be released after Pope Francis’ death. But Mondadori, the Italian publisher coordinating the release, said the pope decided in August that it should be published at the beginning of the Holy Year 2025, which has hope as its central theme.

In several chapters of the book, Pope Francis directly addresses readers, including when he quotes St. John Paul II’s words during the Jubilee 2000: “Do not be afraid. Open wide the doors for Christ!”

“If one day you are overcome by fears and worries,” he told readers, “think of that episode in the Gospel of John, at the marriage at Cana (John 2:1-12), and say to yourselves: The best wine has yet to be served.”

“Be sure of it: The deepest, happiest, most beautiful reality for us, for those we love, has yet to come,” he continued. “Even if some statistic tells you the opposite, even if tiredness weakens your powers, never lose this hope that cannot be beaten.”

Much of the book contains familiar stories of Pope Francis’ past, his childhood and relationship with his grandmother Rosa, his vocation and ministry as a Jesuit, his service as archbishop of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and his election as pope in 2013.

Pope Francis acknowledged that he has made mistakes during his pontificate, usually because of his impatience, but he defends some of his most controversial decisions, including expanding the possibilities for divorced and civilly remarried Catholics to return to the sacraments.

He wrote about both of those decisions in the larger context of how the Church should reach out to and welcome everyone.

“All are invited. Everyone,” he wrote. “And so: Everyone inside. Good and bad, young and old, healthy and sick. For this is the Lord’s plan.”

Pope Francis also discusses his health and asserts again that he has never thought of resigning, although like his predecessors, he had prepared a letter early in his pontificate offering his resignation “in the event of impediment for medical reasons.”

“At the beginning of my papacy I had the feeling that it would be brief: no more than three or four years,” he wrote. “I never imagined that I would write four encyclicals, and all those letters, documents, apostolic exhortations, nor that I would have made all those journeys to more than 60 countries.”

But, he said, “the reality is, quite simply, that I am old.”

Pope Francis approved "Pilgrims of Hope" as the motto for the Holy Year 2025.

The motto aims to give a concise sense of the full meaning of the jubilee journey, Archbishop Rino Fisichella told Vatican News Jan. 13.

The words "pilgrims" and "hope" also represent key themes of Pope Francis' pontificate, said the archbishop, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization, which is in charge of the Holy Year planning efforts.

The archbishop said the pope approved the motto Jan. 3 and that he is awaiting further instructions from the pope. In the meantime, the council already is working with Vatican and Italian authorities on the best way to welcome a large number of visitors during the year.

Traditionally for holy years, the celebrations begin with the pope opening the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica on Christmas Eve and ends with the sealing of the door one year later. The holy doors of St. John Lateran, St. Paul Outside the Walls and St. Mary Major are opened for the year, too.

A holy year or jubilee is a time of pilgrimage, prayer, repentance and acts of mercy, based on the Old Testament tradition of a jubilee year of rest, forgiveness and renewal. Holy years also are a time when Catholics visit designated churches and shrines, recite special prayers, go to confession and receive Communion to receive a plenary indulgence, which is a remission of the temporal punishment due for one's sins.

Pope Boniface VIII proclaimed the first Holy Year in 1300 and decreed that they would be celebrated every 100 years. But just 50 years later, a more biblical cadence, Pope Clement VI proclaimed another holy year. Pope Urban VI thought holy years should be celebrated every 33 years as a reminder of the time Jesus lived.

Finally, in 1470, Pope Paul II established the celebrations every 25 years, which has been the practice ever since. However, special anniversaries have called for special holy years, for instance, in 1933 to mark the 1,900th anniversary of Jesus' death and resurrection and in 1983 to mark the 1,950th anniversary.

Pope Francis, seeing a need to emphasize God's mercy and to encourage Catholics to return to the sacrament of reconciliation, declared an extraordinary Year of Mercy, which ran in 2015-16.