The Council, known colloquially as Vatican II, has been a hot point for conversation in Catholic circles over the past 40 years, with some praising its work to reform certain aspects of the church’s teachings and others saying those reforms may have gone too far or have been misinterpreted.
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“By placing ourselves in situations to reflect upon this love and to experience the grace of this love in the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation, (we find) the strength, the courage, and the compassion to be instruments of mercy to others”.
More information about the global observance of the Year of Mercy can be found on the Vatican’s website.
The Holy Year of Mercy aims to bring those who have gone astray back to God’s loving embrace. Indulgences grant a full pardon from the temporal punishment for sins that have already been forgiven in confession.
The next one was to be held in 2025 but Francis, 78, called a special one on the theme of mercy, a major part of his push for a less judgmental and more inclusive Church.
“It is the responsibility of the (Pontifical Council) to select the Missionaries of Mercy”, Fr. Sylva said.
– The pope will carry out a “symbolic gesture” related to one of the works of mercy on one Friday of every month during the Holy Year.
Francis said he was not surprised by the revelations, and on December 5 the Vatican announced that the PricewaterhouseCoopers global accounting firm would begin auditing the Holy See accounts immediately. For instance, all priests will automatically have the faculties to remit the penalty of excommunication attached to the sin of abortion, without having to receive permission from their bishops.
Also on hand beginning tomorrow and through the end of the Jubilee on November 20, 2016, will be 600 volunteers from UNITALSI – an organisation which helps the disabled reach Lourdes and other shrines reputed to have healing powers – and from the civil service.
The celebration will be capped with the opening of the basilica’s big bronze Holy Door through which upward of 10 million pilgrims will pass over the course of the year. Panaji: Archbishop Filipe Neri Ferrao will open the Door of Mercy in Se Cathedral, Old Goa on December 13 at 10am, the third Sunday of Advent, as part of the celebration of the Year of Mercy by the Universal church, a press note stated. The rite of the opening of the Holy Door is meant to symbolically illustrate the idea that the Church’s faithful are offered an “extraordinary path” toward salvation during the time of jubilee. For the first time, the pope instructed all cathedrals around the world to open their Holy Doors to pilgrims to encourage the faithful to mark the jubilee at home rather than coming to Rome.
“Each of the Jubilee initiatives is an invitation to bask in what Pope Francis has called the balm of God’s mercy”, Fr. Geno said.
What happens when Catholics walk through Holy Doors?
But consumer groups say the local authorities need to be unforgiving when it comes to dealing with the hordes of street hawkers, illegal taxi drivers, pick pockets and local opportunists who will no doubt try to cash in on the Holy Year. “It’s a spiritual journey of conversion that people are making, and so it’ll be reserved and people will be given enough time”.
In fact, dioceses have been asked to designate and open their own “Door of Mercy” in a cathedral, an important church or sanctuary.
“We have to put mercy before judgment, and in any event God’s judgment will always be in the light of his mercy”.
From early in the morning, police checked pilgrims, reporters, diplomats and even priests entering the area starting several blocks from St. Peter’s Square.
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This extraordinary jubilee year is a practical way of giving expression to that wish, and creating a Church that is a “field hospital”, healing and binding the wounds of its flock.
