Tuesday, feast of the Immaculate Conception and the 50th anniversary of the closing of Vatican Council II, will see the start of the Extra-ordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy, announced by Pope Francis last April, on the eve of Divine Mercy Sunday, with the publication of the bull Misericordiae vultus, meaning ‘The face of mercy’.
Holy years, or jubilees, are normally held every 25 years. The last such occasion was the jubilee of the year 2,000 called for by Pope John Paul II. So why hold a Jubilee of Mercy at the beginning of the Third Millennium?
“Simply because the Church, in this time of great historical change, is called to offer more evident signs of God’s presence and closeness,” says Pope Francis. “This is a time for the Church to rediscover the meaning of the mission entrusted to it by the Lord on the day of Easter: to be a sign and an instrument of the Father’s mercy.”
The 28-page bull for the Year of Mercy begins by stating that the face of the Father’s mercy is Jesus. It then speaks about the intentions and spirit of how Pope Francis hopes the Jubilee of Mercy will benefit the universal Church and the world. It also says that the year is meant to proclaim the Gospel to the world in new ways, bringing God’s mercy to everyone.
Many are hoping that at a time of terror and barbaric violence in various places and in different forms, the holy year will also be a message of mercy to drive out fear.
Humanity is being threatened by murderers, possessed by a senseless hatred, who are called ‘terrorists’ precisely because they want to spread terror. If people let themselves be frightened, terrorists will have already reached their first objective. This, then, is one more reason to resist with determination and courage the temptation to fear.
It goes without saying that reasonable and responsible precautions need to be taken. In the meantime, the Catholic message remains that we must go on living by building peace and mutual trust, and that in the current context the Jubilee of Mercy shows itself even more necessary. Speaking to La Croix newspaper, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin described the jubilee as the perfect opportunity to mobilise “all spiritual resources to provide a positive response to evil”.
There is a strong need for a message of mercy to make people capable of building bridges, and, in spite of everything, to have the courage to love
St John Paul II used to see the message of mercy as the great response of God and of believers in the dark and horrible time of World War II, which saw massacres carried out by totalitarian regimes and the spread of hatred among peoples.
Today, too, when Pope Francis is speaking of a Third World War being fought piecemeal, there is a strong need for a message of mercy to make people capable of building bridges, and, in spite of everything, to have the courage to love.
It is a message that also applies for the floods of uprooted human beings in so many parts of the world who are struggling to survive persecution, disregard for human rights, and civil conflicts.
In their faces is etched the face of the crucified Christ. The crucifix symbolises the mercy and humanity of Jesus Christ who triumphs over every conflict, knocking down walls and crossing borders. Jesus told us that the Father stoops to help those overcome by physical or moral poverty. The more serious their condition, the more powerfully is His divine mercy revealed.
Pope Francis’ gesture in donating the crucifix that was gifted to him by President Raul Castro of Cuba to the parish church of Lampedusa, which was the first place in Italy he chose to visit after his election as Pope, reflects and communicates these sentiments.
Measuring over three metres high, the crucifix is crafted from wooden oars tied with ropes to symbolise the reality of migrants who have crossed the Mediterranean by boat.
The crucifix is to be displayed in Holy Cross Church in Agrigento for the local inauguration of the Year of Mercy.
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