Be men of prayer and ministers of mercy, in order to “prolong the work of Jesus”, it is the request of Pope Francis to the confessor priests who participate in the 35th course on the internal jurisdiction, organized by the Apostolic Penitentiary.
In his messagepublished Thursday by the Vatican Press Office, the Pope also highlights that the course, which takes place from March 24 to 28, takes place “during the Lent of the Holy Year 2025: Time of conversion, penance and reception of God’s mercy.”
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Every year the course on the internal jurisdiction is held in the Vatican to address moral and canonical issues, as well as to offer a wide update on the correct administration of the sacrament of confession or reconciliation.
In his message, Pope Francis emphasizes that “celebrating mercy, especially with the pilgrims of the jubilee, is a privilege: God has made us ministers of mercy by his grace, a gift that we welcome because we have been and we are the first objects of his forgiveness.”
In that sense, the Holy Father urged them to “be men of prayer, because in the prayer the roots of his ministerial action are entrenched, with which they prolong the work of Jesus, which still and always repeats: ‘I do not condemn you either; go and, from now on, not little more’ (Jn 8, 11)”.
The pontiff then voted to “resonate throughout the Church, in this Jubilee Year, this lord lord, for the renewal of hearts, that springs from reconciliation with God and opens new fraternal relations. And that peace, so desired, also out of mercy, as the hope that does not disappoint.”
“Thank you for your indispensable sacramental ministry. That the Virgin custodie in the love and patience of Christ. I bless you from the heart and I ask you, please, to pray for me,” concluded Pope Francis.
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.