Pope Francis thanked the missionary priests of mercy for their work and pointed out that conversion and forgiveness are two caresses of God to wipe all tear.
This was indicated by the Holy Father in his message to the missionaries of mercy, who celebrate their jubilee from March 28 to 30 in the Vatican. Mons. Rino Fisichella, Pro-Prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization, read the text, according to refers Vatican Newswhen the rosary prayer in the Lourdes Grotto of the Vatican Gardens presided this Saturday.
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“I thank you because with your service they testify to the paternal face of God, infinitely great in love, which calls everyone for conversion and always renews us with their forgiveness,” said Pope Francis in the text released by the press office of the press office of the press of the press of the press of the Vatican.
“Conversion and forgiveness are the two caresses with which the Lord wives all tear of our eyes; they are the hands with which the Church hugs us sinners; they are the feet on which we walk in our earthly pilgrimage. Jesus, the Savior of the world, opens the way to go together, following him with the strength of his spirit of peace.”
Therefore, Francisco continued, “The breath in his Ministry of Confessors, to be attentive to listen, prompt and constant in accompanying those who wish to renew one’s life and return to the Lord.”
In fact, with his mercy, “God transforms us internally, changes our heart: the forgiveness of the Lord is a source of hope, because we can always count on him, in any situation. God became man to reveal to the world that never abandons us!”
To conclude, Pope Francis asked the priests: “And do not forget, please, to pray for me.”
Who are the missionaries of mercy?
The missionaries of mercy are priests who have the power to forgive certain serious sins that are normally reserved only to the Holy See.
Pope Francis ordered his mission in 2016, in the year of mercy. Among the sins that can forgive are the unauthorized ordination of a bishop (both the one who orders and the one that is ordered); Profit of the Eucharist; violation of the secret of confession by a confessor; Apostasy, heresy or schism (rejection or abandonment of the Catholic faith) or conspiracy or violence against the Pope.
Before 2016, for a priest to be acquitted of these serious sins, he had to initiate a procedure with the Apostolic Penitentiary, which could take months and committed his confidentiality.
Walter Sánchez Silva
I am husband since 2008. With my wife we have three children here and one who went to heaven in 2023, before birth. Since I joined ACI Press in 2005, I have had the opportunity to cover various events of the Catholic Church. Among them, the World Youth Days in Colonia, Madrid and Rio de Janeiro and the apostolic trips of Pope Benedict XVI to Mexico and Pope Francis to South Korea. I have been sent to the Vatican to cover the family’s synods, in 2015; of the Amazon, in 2019 and that of Sinodality, in 2023. I follow the situation of the Catholic Church in Nicaragua, which suffers the persecution of the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega, as well as the ecclesial news in the region.