

**VOLUME 2, ISSUE 1   •  JANUARY 9, 2016**

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VATICAN NEWS

Pope Francis declares Holy Year for Mercy

Pope Francis: Now is the time for mercy

Mercy inseparable from life, mission of the Church, says Pope

What's unprecedented about Pope Francis' Year for Mercy

Here's Pope Francis' schedule for the Jubilee of Mercy

All priests will be able forgive sin of abortion during Jubilee for Mercy

Are dialogue and reconciliation with the SSPX part of the Jubilee for Mercy?

Pope: All European churches to welcome refugees during Year of Mercy

Mercy, dialogue to be the focus of World Communications Day

Pope Francis to open Bangui's Holy Door while in Central African Republic

Holy Door in St. Peter's Basilica uncovered as Jubilee nears

Seeking peace and mercy, Pope Francis opens the Holy Door of Bangui

Make the Jubilee of Mercy a 'revolution of tenderness,' Pope urges

Benedict XVI will attend Holy Door opening at Vatican to start Year of Mercy

The Year of Mercy: What's it all about?

It's time to rediscover God's mercy, Pope says at Jubilee launch

Why a Jubilee of Mercy? Because the Church needs it, Pope Francis says

The Year of Mercy and theology: A conversation with Cardinal Muller

Pope Francis postpones Milan visit due to 'intense' Jubilee schedule

The new annulment process went into effect this week

As Jesus' birth nears, sadness is 'not allowed,' Pope says

To obtain peace, we have to fight indifference with mercy, Pope says

How does God show mercy to us? Through the Church, Pope says

Pope Francis meets with railroad workers -- and reminds them of God's mercy

Want to find God? Seek him in the most needy, Pope Francis says

Look for the presence of God in your life, Pope says on New Year's

Mercy is stronger than violence and injustice, Pope says

Pope Francis: Mary is the 'mother of forgiveness'

Pope prays first Angelus of 2016 calling for vigilance against evil

Missionaries of Mercy to be sent out under the gaze of Padre Pio

Pope: Humanity seeks God, and the Magi show us where to find him

WORLD NEWS

Rome prepares for Holy Year of Mercy - with ice cream

In Chile, massive Marian pilgrimage to open Year of Mercy

How can we live the Year of Mercy? Suggestions from Southern Africa's bishops

U.S. NEWS

Pope Francis has called for a Holy Year of Mercy - so what does that mean?

What is mercy - and what are some false conceptions of it?

FEATURES

Pope Francis and true mercy

'The Hateful Eight' and 'Sisters' - One brutally impressive and one brutally unfunny

Untying Knots with the Mother of Mercy

SCRIPTURE READINGS

Sunday • January 10, 2016

Monday • January 11, 2016

Tuesday • January 12, 2016

Wednesday • January 13, 2016

Thursday • January 14, 2016

Friday • January 15, 2016

Saturday • January 16, 2016
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Volume 2, Issue 1 • January 9, 2016

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VATICAN NEWS

**Pope Francis declares Holy Year for Mercy**

_by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News)  • March 13, 2015_

Pope Francis greets pilgrims in St. Peter's Square before his general audience on April 16, 2014. (Daniel Ibanez/CNA)

**Vatican City** -- During his homily for a Lenten penitential service, Pope Francis announced an extraordinary Jubilee to start at the end of the year, and which will be dedicated to a theme close to the pontiff's heart: mercy.

"Dear brothers and sisters, I have thought about how the Church can make clear it's mission of being a witness of mercy," the Pope told attendees of his March 13 penitential liturgy in St. Peter's Basilica.

"It's a journey that starts with a spiritual conversion. For this reason I have decided to declare an Extraordinary Jubilee that has the mercy of God at its center. It will be a Holy Year of Mercy."

The biblical passage the theme for the Holy Year is taken from is Luke Chapter 6 verse 36, in which Jesus tells his disciples "Be merciful as your Father is merciful."

"I am convinced that the whole Church will be able to find in this Jubilee the joy of rediscovering and making fruitful the mercy of God, with which we are all called to give consolation to every man and every woman of our time," Francis said, and entrusted the Holy Year to Mary, Mother of Mercy.

Pope Francis made his announcement during a penitential liturgy opening the second "24 Hours for the Lord" event, which he originally called for in Lent of last year.

An initiative of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization, the event is designed to widen access to the Sacrament of confession by having parishes open their doors for an extended period of time with priests available to those who come.

Francis' announcement of the Extraordinary Jubilee for mercy not only falls on the opening of the 24 hours for the Lord event, which follows the theme "God rich in mercy," but also the two year anniversary of his pontificate.

The Jubilee, also called a Holy Year will open this year on Dec. 8 - the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception - and will close Nov. 20, 2016 with the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe.

It will also coincide with the 50th anniversary of the closing of the Second Vatican Council in 1965. The Jubilee will be organized by the Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization.

Sunday readings during Ordinary Time for the Holy Year will be taken from the Gospel of Luke, as he is often referred to as "the evangelist of mercy." Among the well-known parables of mercy present in Luke's Gospel are that of the lost sheep, the lost coin and the merciful father.

The official announcement of the Jubilee will take place on Divine Mercy Sunday, the Sunday after Easter, with a public proclamation in front of the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica.

Each of the four papal basilicas in Rome have a holy door, which are normally sealed shut from the inside so that they can't be opened. The doors are only opened during Jubilee years so that pilgrims can enter through them in order to gain the plenary indulgence that is connected with the Jubilee.

The rite of the opening of the Holy Door is intended to symbolically illustrate the idea that the Church's faithful are offered an "extraordinary path" toward salvation during the time of Jubilee.

After the Holy Door opens in St. Peter's Basilica, those of the other three Roman basilicas, St. John Lateran, St. Paul Outside the Walls and St. Mary Major, will be opened.

In ancient Hebrew tradition the Jubilee Year was celebrated every 50 years and was intended to restore equality among the children of Israel by providing opportunities for families who had lost their property and even their personal freedom to regain them.

It was also a year in which the wealthy were reminded that their Israelite slaves would again become their equals and regain their rights.

The Catholic tradition of practicing the Holy Year began with Pope Boniface VIII in 1300, and since 1475 an Ordinary Jubilee has been celebrated every 25 years in order to allow each generation to experience at least one during their lifetime.

However, as is the case with Pope Francis' 2016 Holy Year of Mercy, an extraordinary Jubilee can be called for a special occasion or for an event that has a particular importance.

Until now there have only been 26 ordinary Jubilee celebrations, the last of which was the Jubilee of 2000.

The Holy Year is traditionally a year of forgiveness of sins and also the punishment merited by one's sins. It is also a year for reconciliation between enemies, conversion and receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

The first extraordinary Jubilee was called in 16th century, and the most recent have been in 1933, when Pope Pius XI called one to celebrate 1900 years of Redemption, and in 1983 when St. John Paul II proclaimed one to honor 1950 years of Redemption.

Mercy is a dear to Francis, and is the central topic of his episcopal motto "miserando atque eligendo," that he chose when ordained a bishop in 1992.

A possible translation of the motto, taken from a homily given by St. Bede in which he commented on Jesus' calling of St. Matthew, could be "with eyes of mercy."

In his first Angelus address as the Bishop of Rome, March 17, 2013, Francis said that "Feeling mercy, that this word changes everything."

Mercy, he said then, "is the best thing we can feel: it changes the world. A little mercy makes the world less cold and more just. We need to understand properly this mercy of God, this merciful Father who is so patient."

In the English version of his first Apostolic Exhortation "Evangelii Gaudium," the word "mercy" appears 32 times.

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VATICAN NEWS

**Pope Francis: Now is the time for mercy**

_by Ann Schneible (CNA/EWTN News)  • April 11, 2015_

Pope Francis venerates the Cross on Good Friday, 2015. (L'Osservatore Romano)

**Vatican City** -- In a world marked by suffering and fierce persecution - especially of Christians - now "is the time for mercy," Pope Francis said, speaking at the vigil for the Feast of Divine Mercy.

Reflecting on the ongoing persecution faced by Christians, the Pope said, "our prayer is all the more intense and becomes a cry for help to the Father, who is rich in mercy, that he may sustain the faith of our many brothers and sisters who are in pain."

For our part, we are to seek the grace of "conversion of our own hearts," whereby we are moved "from indifference to compassion," he added.

The pontiff made these remarks during his homily for Evening Vespers in St. Peter's Basilica, minutes after a public proclamation of the Jubilee for Mercy in front of the Holy Door.

The Jubilee is an Extraordinary Holy Year that will open this year on Dec. 8 - the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception - and will close Nov. 20, 2016 with the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe.

The Pope first announced the Year of Mercy on March 13, the second anniversary of his pontifical election, during a Lenten penitential liturgy in St. Peter's Basilica.

Mercy is a theme that is dear to Francis, and is the central topic of his episcopal motto "miserando atque eligendo," which he chose when ordained a bishop in 1992.

Speaking the evening before the Feast of Divine Mercy, which falls on the first Sunday after Easter, Pope Francis recalled Jesus' words to his disciples, "Peace be with you!"

During the Easter season, he said, this concept of peace "remains the desire of so many people who suffer unprecedented violence of discrimination and death simply because they bear the name 'Christian'."

Regardless of life's difficulties and sufferings, the pontiff said - citing St. Paul - the hope of salvation won for us the mystery of Jesus' death and resurrection "continues to grow."

"The mercy of God is poured out upon us, making us just and giving us peace," he said. "This is a time for the Church to rediscover the meaning of the mission entrusted to her by the Lord on the day of Easter: to be a sign and an instrument of the Father's mercy."

Pope Francis explained that he declared this Jubilee of mercy because we are living at a "time of great historical change" which calls the Church "to offer more evident signs of God's presence and closeness."

This period in history is a time where the faithful "need to be vigilant and to reawaken in ourselves the capacity to see what is essential," he said.

"This is the time for mercy."

The aim of Jubilee Year of Mercy is to encourage the faithful to "welcome the numerous signs of the tenderness which God offers to the whole world," the Pope continued.

These signs of God's tenderness are especially offered to the suffering, the alone, the abandoned, and those "without hope of being pardoned or feeling the Father's love."

"It is the favourable time to heal wounds," he stressed, "a time not to be weary of meeting all those who are waiting to see and to touch with their hands the signs of the closeness of God, a time to offer everyone the way of forgiveness and reconciliation."

Pope Francis concluded his short address by calling on Mary to help the faithful "comprehend the task to which we have been called" during this Holy Year of Mercy, helping to experience the year "as faithful and fruitful witnesses of Christ."

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VATICAN NEWS

**Mercy inseparable from life, mission of the Church, says Pope**

_by Ann Schneible (CNA/EWTN News)  • April 11, 2015_

Celebration of Vespers on the eve of Divine Mercy Sunday, 2015. (Elise Harris/CNA)

**Vatican City** -- Pope Francis officially proclaimed the upcoming Jubilee Year of Mercy by reminding the faithful that mercy cannot be separated from the life and ministry of the Church.

"Mercy is the very foundation of the Church's life," Pope Francis wrote in the official declaration, released April 11. "All of her pastoral activity should be caught up in the tenderness she makes present to believers; nothing in her preaching and in her witness to the world can be lacking in mercy. The Church's very credibility is seen in how she shows merciful and compassionate love."

"Wherever the Church is present, the mercy of the Father must be evident," he said.

Pope Francis released the Bull of Indiction of the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy, on Saturday, moments before presiding over Vespers in St. Peter's Basilica for the vigil of Divine Mercy Sunday.

The title of the bull is Misericordiae Vultus - or, "The Face of Mercy."

The Pope first announced the Year of Mercy on March 13, the second anniversary of his pontifical election, during a Lenten penitential liturgy in St. Peter's Basilica. The Jubilee, also known as a Holy Year, will open this year on December 8 - the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception.

That feast, during which the Church celebrates that Mary was conceived without Original Sin, "recalls God's action from the very beginning of the history of mankind," the Pope wrote.

"When faced with the gravity of (Adam and Eve's) sin, God responds with the fullness of mercy," he said. "Mercy will always be greater than any sin, and no one can place limits on the love of God who is ever ready to forgive."

Each of the four papal basilicas in Rome has a holy door, which is normally sealed shut from the inside so that it cannot be opened. The doors are only opened during Jubilee years so that pilgrims can enter through them in order to gain the plenary indulgence that is connected with the Jubilee.

When it is opened, the Pope writes, "the Holy Door will become a Door of Mercy through which anyone who enters will experience the love of God who consoles, pardons, and instills hope."

One of the characteristics of this Jubilee will be that it not be limited to Rome, but will be extended to churches - and even some sanctuaries - around the world "as a visible sign of the Church's universal communion."

The Holy Year will conclude Nov. 20, 2016 with the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe.

"On that day, as we seal the Holy Door, we shall be filled, above all, with a sense of gratitude and thanksgiving to the Most Holy Trinity for having granted us an extraordinary time of grace," the Pope wrote.

"How much I desire that the year to come will be steeped in mercy, so that we can go out to every man and woman, bringing the goodness and tenderness of God!"

Pope Francis also observed the significance that the Jubilee year's opening will coincide with the 50th anniversary of the closing of the Second Vatican Council, which ushered the Church into "a new phase of her history."

"The Council Fathers strongly perceived, as a true breath of the Holy Spirit, a need to talk about God to men and women of their time in a more accessible way," he said. "The Church sensed a responsibility to be a living sign of the Father's love in the world."

Pope Francis reminded the faithful that the capacity for mercy begins with learning to listen to God's Word, which requires "rediscovering the value of silence" in order "to contemplate God's mercy and adopt it as our lifestyle."

The Holy Year also offers an opportunity for pilgrimage to the Holy Door, which also represents the journey towards mercy through "dedication and sacrifice," he said.

"May pilgrimage be an impetus to conversion," he said. "By crossing the threshold of the Holy Door, we will find the strength to embrace God's mercy and dedicate ourselves to being merciful with others as the Father has been with us."

Pope Francis spoke about Christ's command not to judge our brother.

"To refrain from judgement and condemnation means, in a positive sense, to know how to accept the good in every person and to spare him any suffering that might be caused by our partial judgment and our presumption to know everything about him," the pontiff reflected.

However, he warned that this is not enough in expressing mercy.

"Jesus asks us also to forgive and to give," and "to be instruments of mercy because it was we who first received mercy from God."

The Jubilee is also an opportunity to reach out to those on the fringes of society, Pope Francis said - "fringes modern society itself creates."

"Let us open our eyes and see the misery of the world, the wounds of our brothers and sisters who are denied their dignity, and let us recognize that we are compelled to heed their cry for help!"

He also called the faithful to "enter more deeply into the heart of the Gospel where the poor have a special experience of God's mercy," and rediscover the corporal and spiritual works of mercy.

"We cannot escape the Lord's words to us, and they will serve as the criteria upon which we will be judged: whether we have fed the hungry and given drink to the thirsty, welcomed the stranger and clothed the naked, or spent time with the sick and those in prison."

Pope Francis also warned that we will be judged on whether "we have helped others to escape the doubt that causes them to fall into despair and which is often a source of loneliness."

"This Holy Year will bring to the fore the richness of Jesus' mission echoed in the words of the prophet: to bring a word and gesture of consolation to the poor, to proclaim liberty to those bound by new forms of slavery in modern society, to restore sight to those who can see no more because they are caught up in themselves, to restore dignity to all those from whom it has been robbed."

Pope Francis stressed the importance of the Sacrament of Reconciliation during the Jubilee for Mercy.

"Let us place the Sacrament of Reconciliation at the center once more in such a way that it will enable people to touch the grandeur of God's mercy with their own hands," he said.

The pontiff then challenged priests to become good confessors, insisting that they "be authentic signs of the Father's mercy."

"Let us never forget that to be confessors means to participate in the very mission of Jesus to be a concrete sign of the constancy of divine love that pardons and saves."

To expand the possibility for reconciliation, Pope Francis said certain priests during Lent 2016, as part of the Jubilee, will have the authority to grant pardon to sins which can otherwise only be pardoned by the Holy See.

These "Missionaries of Mercy," he said, "will be, above all, living signs of the Father's readiness to welcome those in search of his pardon. They will be missionaries of mercy because they will be facilitators of a truly human encounter, a source of liberation, rich with responsibility for overcoming obstacles and taking up the new life of Baptism again."

Pope Francis went on to address the "relationship between justice and mercy," stressing that they "are not two contradictory realities, but two dimensions of a single reality that unfolds progressively until it culminates in the fullness of love."

"Justice is a fundamental concept for civil society, which is meant to be governed by the rule of law," he said, but he warned against a legalistic interpretation which distorts the "original meaning of justice and obscuring its profound value."

"Mercy is not opposed to justice but rather expresses God's way of reaching out to the sinner, offering him a new chance to look at himself, convert, and believe."

The Holy Father went on to reflect on mercy as it relates to those outside the Church: specifically, Judaism and Islam, "both of which consider mercy to be one of God's most important attributes."

"I trust that this Jubilee year celebrating the mercy of God will foster an encounter with these religions and with other noble religious traditions; may it open us to even more fervent dialogue so that we might know and understand one another better; may it eliminate every form of closed-mindedness and disrespect, and drive out every form of violence and discrimination."

Finally, Pope Francis called on the faithful to turn to Mary during the Jubilee for Mercy, on whose feast the Holy Year will be commenced.

"No one has penetrated the profound mystery of the incarnation like Mary," he said.

"In this Jubilee Year, let us allow God to surprise us. He never tires of throwing open the doors of his heart and repeats that he loves us and wants to share his love with us. The Church feels the urgent need to proclaim God's mercy. Her life is authentic and credible only when she becomes a convincing herald of mercy."

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VATICAN NEWS

**What 's unprecedented about Pope Francis' Year for Mercy**

_by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News)  • May 8, 2015_

Pope Francis is presented an image of the Divine Mercy by members of the John Paul II Foundation, April 25, 2015. (L'Osservatore Romano)

**Vatican City** -- In tune with his knack for making history, Pope Francis' Year for Mercy will include things no other jubilee has: worldwide "missionaries of mercy," and "holy doors" in every diocese for pilgrims to walk through.

"For the first time in the history of the Jubilee tradition, there will be an opportunity for individual dioceses to open a Holy Door - the Door of Mercy," Archbishop Rino Fisichella said May 5.

Each of the four major basilicas in Rome has a holy door, which are normally sealed shut from the inside so that they cannot be opened. The doors are only opened during jubilee years so that pilgrims can enter through them in order to gain the plenary indulgence that is connected with the jubilee.

The rite of the opening of the Holy Door is intended to symbolically illustrate the idea that the Church's faithful are offered an "extraordinary path" toward salvation during the time of jubilee.

As part of the Holy Year for Mercy, holy doors will for the first time be designated in dioceses. Their location, the archbishop said, will be "either in the cathedral or in a church of special significance or a shrine of particular importance for pilgrimages."

Head of the Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization, which is in charge of organizing the Jubilee for Mercy, Archbishop Fisichella spoke with journalists at the presentation of the logo and calendar of the Holy Year.

The jubilee was announced by Pope Francis during a March 13 penitential service, the second anniversary of his papal election. It will open Dec. 8 - the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception - and will close Nov. 20, 2016, the Solemnity of Christ the King.

At the official proclamation of the jubilee during Vespers on the vigil of Divine Mercy Sunday, the papal bull of indiction, _Misericordiae Vultus_ , or _The Face of Mercy_ , was presented.

The term "papal bull" refers to an official papal document of special importance. The papal bull of indiction refers to a document presented when something major is announced, such as a jubilee, and is a fundamental document detailing the intentions and outcomes hoped for by the Pope.

In the papal bull for the Jubilee on Mercy, it was noted that the diocesan opening of the Door for Mercy is a sign that the jubilee is not limited to Rome, but extends to local Churches around the world "as a visible sign of the Church's universal communion."

Archbishop Fisichella said that the idea of the doors on a local level is intended to be "a sign of the pilgrimage that is done, and the sign of receiving the indulgence."

"The indulgence is the characteristic of the jubilee," he said, so the doors will allow "all those who cannot come to Rome and who are living the jubilee in their dioceses to be able to have, also on the level of the expressive sign in their pilgrimage, the receiving of the indulgence... in passing through the Holy Door."

The Holy Doors in Rome major basilicas will be open throughout the Year for Mercy, beginning with St. Peter's on Dec. 8, when the jubilee will officially begin.

St. John Lateran's door will open Dec. 13, St. Mary Major's Jan. 1, 2016, while that of St. Paul Outside the Walls will open Jan. 26, 2016.

A special path leading toward the Holy Door in St. Peter's will be marked out for pilgrims traveling to Rome during the jubilee year, so that they may pass through it and obtain the indulgence.

Another novelty Pope Francis has included in his jubilee are the "Missionaries of Mercy," who will receive a special mandate from the Pope during the Ash Wednesday Mass in St. Peter's Basilica in 2016 before going out to dioceses around the world as ambassadors of mercy.

The idea of the missionaries, Archbishop Fisichella noted, is to "build upon the central content of the faith and to call the Church once again to its missionary priority of being a sign and witness in every aspect of its pastoral life."

The priests selected as missionaries will be chosen jointly by diocesan bishops and members of the pontifical council for evangelization, he said. The priests must be also patient and have a keen understanding of human frailty, but also a readiness to express God's mercy in the sacrament of Confession.

He said bishops emeritus are being considered due to their years of experience and ability to anticipate the needs of others.

Although the reference to the Missionaries of Mercy in the papal bull of indiction gave special emphasis to their role during Lent, the archbishop said they would be available for the entire jubilee.

Pope Francis himself is set to make five "jubilee signs" as a witness of the corporal and spiritual works of mercy on designated days throughout the Holy Year. Although the dates of the Pope's works are given in the official calendar, it has not been announced what the works will be.

One possible idea, the archbishop said, is to have a Mass with prisoners inside St. Peter's Basilica so that they can participate in the jubilee "not just from their cells," but together with the Church. The idea, however, has not been confirmed.

As a sign of the Pope's charitable love, Archbishop Fisichella said that "effective measures" will also be taken "to meet real needs in the world that will express mercy through tangible assistance."

The official website for the jubilee has already launched in seven languages: Italian, English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, and Polish.

Heavy emphasis will also be given to social media in promoting the events of the jubilee and informing followers of the different activities surrounding it.

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google Plus, and Flickr can all be found on the official website. Archbishop Fisichella also noted that his council is currently exploring the idea of an app that will better integrate information surrounding the jubilee.

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VATICAN NEWS

**Here 's Pope Francis' schedule for the Jubilee of Mercy**

_by Andrea Gagliarducci (CNA/EWTN News)  • July 22, 2015_

Pope Francis before the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica during the convocation of the Jubilee of Mercy, April 11, 2015. (L'Osservatore Romano)

**Vatican City** -- Twelve prominent events, each with the participation of Pope Francis, have been scheduled in Rome for the upcoming Jubilee of Mercy, and CNA was able to glance at details of their programs.

The twelve big events of the Jubilee of Mercy will be: 24 hours for the Lord, a day-long period of Eucharistic adoration; To Dry the Tears, a prayer vigil; and jubilees centered on pilgrimage workers; the sick and disabled; catechists; deacons; teenagers; priests; volunteers of mercy; the Curia; Mary; and Divine Mercy spirituality.

In addition to these events, a "Jubilee for Padre Pio's prayer group" will take place Feb. 13, 2016, as the body of the Capuchin saint who bore stigmata for much of his life will be exposed in Saint Peter's Basilica Feb. 8-14, at Pope Francis' request.

"The Holy Father expressed the wish that Padre Pio's corpse be exposed in St. Peter's Basilica on Ash Wednesday of the upcoming Extraordinary Holy Year, that is, the day when the Pope will send the missionaries of Mercy, giving them a special mandate to preach and hear confessions, so that they be a lively sign of how the Father welcomes those who seeks his pardon," Archbishop Rino Fisichella, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization, wrote to Archbishop Michele Castoro of the Archdiocese of Manfredonia-Vieste-San Giovanni Rotondo.

Here is a description of the full schedule of the meetings.

The jubilee for pilgrimage workers will take place Jan. 19-21, 2016. It will start with an international gathering of pilgrimage workers together with priests, rectors, and staff of shrines. A Mass will be said Jan. 19 at the Basilica of St. John Lateran. The group will have a conference and catechesis the following day, with Eucharistic adoration and Confession, and a pilgrimage to the Holy Door. They will meet with Pope Francis Jan. 21 in Paul VI Hall.

On the feast of the Chair of St. Peter, Feb. 22, the Pope will also celebrate a special jubilee for the Roman Curia, the Vatican Governatorate, and the institutions linked to the Holy See.

On Apr. 1-3 2016, during the Easter Octave, the jubilee of Divine Mercy spirituality will be celebrated. On April 1, some Roman parishes will celebrate a penitential rite, and the following day Pope Francis will lead a prayer vigil in St. Peter's Square. He will say Mass for Divine Mercy Sunday on April 3.

The teenagers' jubilee will begin with an April 23 evening festival at Rome's Olympic Stadium, followed by a Mass said by Pope Francis in St. Peter's Square the following day.

The jubilee of deacons will take placy May 27-29, with conferences on their role as icons of mercy for the new evangelization in their families, parishes, and jobs. They will gather in Rome's seven parishes named for St. Lawrence, and on May 28 will have Adoration, Confession, and pilgrimage to the Holy Door, then attend a Mass said by Pope Francis May 29.

Priests will celebrate their jubilee June 1-3. The first day will be dedicated to Eucharistic Adoration, lectio divina, and confessions. The Holy Father will preach their spiritual retreat June 2, and June 3 will say Mass with them.

The jubilee of the sick and disabled will occur June 10-12. The participants will gather in the jubilee churches, and from there they will go to the Holy Door. A celebration will be held in the gardens of Castel Sant'Angelo June 11, and a Mass in St. Peter's Square with the Holy Father June 12.

From Sept. 2-4 the volunteers of mercy will gather in Rome for catechesis and a Mass with Pope Francis.

Catechists' jubilee is scheduled Sept. 23-25. The first day, they will have the option of either visiting San Luigi dei Francesi to contemplate Caravaggio's paintings of St. Matthew's calling, inspiration, and martyrdom; or the Sistine Chapel to view salvation history through the ceiling painted by Michelangelo. The following day will see a catechesis on mercy in the jubilee churches and a prayer vigil at St. John Lateran, and Pope Francis will say Mass Sept. 25 in St. Peter's Square.

A Marian jubilee will be celebrated Oct. 7-9, which will gather delegates from Marian shrines across the world. Pope Francis will be present at the Oct. 8 prayer vigil, and say Mass Oct. 9.

Added to these particular jubilees are two additional events: the 24 hours for the Lord, culminating March 4 with a penitential rite, and the "Vigil to Dry Tears," scheduled May 5 and described as a vigil for all those who need consolation. Pope Francis will preside over both the vigils.

The jubilee was announced by Pope Francis during a March 13 penitential service, the second anniversary of his election as Bishop of Rome. It will open Dec. 8 - the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception - and will close Nov. 20, 2016, the Solemnity of Christ the King.

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**All priests will be able forgive sin of abortion during Jubilee for Mercy**

_by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News)  • September 1, 2015_

Priests celebrate Mass at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Denver on Jan. 17, 2015. (Jeffrey Bruno/Catholic Charities CC BY 2.0)

**Vatican City** -- In a new set of pastoral guidelines for the upcoming Holy Year of Mercy Pope Francis has made some significant moves, allowing all priests to forgive the sin of abortion and granting SSPX priests the faculty to forgive sins.

"One of the serious problems of our time is clearly the changed relationship with respect to life," the Pope said in a Sept. 1 letter addressed to Archbishop Rino Fisichela, President of the Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization, charged with organizing the Jubilee.

In today's society "a widespread and insensitive mentality" has become an obstacle to welcoming new life, with many who don't fully understand the deep harm done by the "tragedy of abortion," he said.

However, Francis also noted that there are many women who, despite thinking abortion is wrong, feel that they have no other choice.

"I am well aware of the pressure that has led them to this decision. I know that it is an existential and moral ordeal. I have met so many women who bear in their heart the scar of this agonizing and painful decision," he said.

A woman who obtains an abortion automatically incurs a latae sententiae (automatic) excommunication, as well as those who assisted her in the process. Normally the sin of committing an abortion can only be absolved by a bishop, or certain priests appointed by him.

For specific occasions such as Advent or Lent, some bishops extend this faculty to all priests within their diocese.

However, the Pope said that the forgiveness of God can't be denied to a person who has sincerely repented, especially when the person comes to the Sacrament of Confession in order to be genuinely reconciled with the Father.

Because of this, Francis said, he has allowed all priests for the Jubilee of Mercy "to absolve of the sin of abortion those who have procured it and who, with contrite heart, seek forgiveness for it."

In another significant move, Francis has also allowed priests from the Society of St Pius X to "validly and licitly" hear confessions during the Holy Year.

"This Jubilee Year of Mercy excludes no one," the Pope said in his letter, explaining several bishops have informed him of the society's "good faith and sacramental practice," albeit combined with an "uneasy situation from the pastoral standpoint."

The Society of St. Pius X was founded by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre in 1970 to form priests, as a response to what he described as errors that had crept into the Church following the Second Vatican Council. Its relations with the Holy See became strained in 1988 when Archbishop Lefebvre consecrated four bishops without the permission of Pope John Paul II.

The illicit consecration resulted in the excommunication of the five bishops; the excommunications were lifted in 2009 by Benedict XVI, and since then, negotiations between the Society and the Vatican to re-establish full communion have continued.

In his letter, Francis expressed his confidence that solutions to recovering full communion with the priests and superiors of the Society could be found in the near future.

In the meantime, "motivated by the need to respond to the good of these faithful, through my own disposition," he declared that those who approach priests of the Society for confession during the jubilee "shall validly and licitly receive the absolution of their sins."

Pope Francis also turned to those who, due to reasons of age, illness or incarceration, will not be able to walk through the Holy Door in order to obtain the plenary indulgence connected with the jubilee.

Each of the four major basilicas in Rome has a holy door, which are normally sealed shut from the inside so that they cannot be opened. The doors are only opened during jubilee years so that pilgrims can enter through them in order to gain the indulgence.

In May it was announced that as part of the Holy Year for Mercy, holy doors will for the first time be designated in dioceses, and will be located either in the cathedral or in a church of special significance or a shrine of particular importance for pilgrimages.

For the elderly and sick, often confined to their homes, the Pope said that living their illness and suffering with "joyful hope" and attending Mass, receiving communion and participating in community prayer, "even through the various means of communication," is a way that they can receive the jubilee indulgence.

In regards to prisoners, Francis said that they will be able to obtain the indulgence in the chapels of the prisons.

He said that directing their thoughts and prayers to God each time they cross the door of their cell would signify their passage through the Holy Door, "because the mercy of God is able to transform hearts, and is also able to transform bars into an experience of freedom."

The Pope also pointed to how a jubilee indulgence can be obtained for the deceased, and encourage faithful to the Saints for them during Mass, that "the merciful Face of the Father" free them of the remainder of every fault.

Francis then turned to the corporal and spiritual works of mercy, explaining that the experience of mercy "becomes visible in the witness of concrete signs as Jesus himself taught us."

Therefore, each time that someone personally performs one or more of the 13 works of mercy, such as feeding the hungry, visiting the sick, burying the dead, willingly forgiving offenses, comforting the afflicted or praying for the living and dead, that person will "surely obtain the Jubilee Indulgence."

For all those who will celebrate and experience the grace of the jubilee either as pilgrims in Rome or in their individual dioceses, Francis prayed that the indulgence would be "a genuine experience of God's mercy" for each one.

He affirmed that in order to receive the indulgence one must make a pilgrimage to the Holy Door, either in Rome or in their diocese, "as a sign of the deep desire for true conversion."

In addition to the cathedrals and shrines where the Holy Door of Mercy will be opened, the Pope also designated that the indulgence could be attained in the churches traditionally identified as Jubilee Churches.

He stressed the importance of remembering that the reception of the indulgence must be linked "first and foremost to the Sacrament of Reconciliation and to the celebration of the Holy Eucharist with a reflection on mercy."

It will be necessary, he said, "to accompany these celebrations with the profession of faith and with prayer for me and for the intentions that I bear in my heart for the good of the Church and of the entire world."

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**Are dialogue and reconciliation with the SSPX part of the Jubilee for Mercy?**

_by Andrea Gagliarducci (CNA/EWTN News)  • September 3, 2015_

Pope Francis at St. Peter's Basilica for the convocation of the Jubilee Year of Mercy, April 11, 2015. (L'Osservatore Romano)

**Vatican City** -- Pope Francis' decision that during the Jubilee Year of Mercy the faithful can receive absolution from priests of the Society of St. Pius X is the most recent attempt at reconciliation with the priestly society, according to a Vatican official.

The decision must be understood as Pope Francis extending his arm to the SSPX, a Vatican official who has taken part in talks between the Vatican and the society told CNA Sept. 2.

The official added that for the Year of Mercy, Pope Francis has solved the issue of the validity of absolutions granted by priests of the society.

In his Sept. 1 letter detailing the Holy Year of Mercy, which runs from Dec. 8, 2015 to Nov. 20, 2016, Pope Francis wrote that among his considerations were "those faithful who for various reasons choose to attend churches officiated by priests of the Fraternity of St Pius X."

"This Jubilee Year of Mercy excludes no one," he reflected. "From various quarters, several Brother Bishops have told me of their good faith and sacramental practice, combined however with an uneasy situation from the pastoral standpoint. I trust that in the near future solutions may be found to recover full communion with the priests and superiors of the Fraternity."

"In the meantime, motivated by the need to respond to the good of these faithful, through my own disposition, I establish that those who during the Holy Year of Mercy approach these priests of the Fraternity of St Pius X to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation shall validly and licitly receive the absolution of their sins."

Later that day, the SSPX released a statement "express(ing) its gratitude to the Sovereign Pontiff for this fatherly gesture... on the occasion of this Holy Year, Pope Francis wants all the faithful who wish to confess to the priests of the Society of St. Pius X to be able to do so without being worried."

The society's statement added that "in the ministry of the sacrament of penance, we have always relied, with all certainty, on the extraordinary jurisdiction conferred by the Normae generales of the Code of Canon Law."

The statement reflects the SSPX's belief that even though their priests have not been given the faculty of hearing confessions by local ordinaries (because of their irregular situation in the Church) - which is necessary for the valid absolution of sins - their absolutions are nevertheless valid, because they believe Church to be in a state of "emergency" which overrides the need for faculties given by the local bishop.

The Society of St. Pius X was founded by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre in 1970 to form priests, as a response to what he described as errors that had crept into the Church following the Second Vatican Council. Its relations with the Holy See became strained in 1988 when Archbishop Lefebvre consecrated four bishops without the permission of Pope John Paul II.

The illicit consecration resulted in the excommunication of the five bishops; the excommunications were lifted in 2009 by Benedict XVI, and since then, negotiations between the Society and the Vatican have continued, "to rediscover full communion with the Church."

In remitting the excommunications, Benedict also noted that "doctrinal questions obviously remain and until they are clarified the Society has no canonical status in the Church and its ministers cannot legitimately exercise any ministry."

The biggest obstacle for the society's reconciliation has been the statements on religious liberty in Vatican II's declaration _Dignitatis humanae_ , which it claims contradicts previous Catholic teaching.

Doctrinal discussions between the SSPX and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith broke down in the summer of 2012, when the society's superior general, Bishop Bernard Fellay, would not sign a doctrinal preamble presented by Rome.

In December 2012 the vice-president of the Ponticial Commission Ecclesia Dei, Archbishop Augustine Di Noia, wrote to the society's priests, seeking "reconciliation and healing" and urging them that "some new considerations of a more spiritual and theological nature are needed... considerations that focus rather on our duty to preserve and cherish the divinely willed unity and peace of the Church."

Talks between the CDF and the society resumed in 2014. In September of that year, representatives of both bodies held a two-hour meeting to discuss matters of Church teaching. The Holy See press office stated that "various problems of a doctrinal and canonical nature were examined, and it was decided to proceed gradually and over a reasonable period of time in order to overcome difficulties and with a view to the envisioned full reconciliation."

And within the past year, the Holy See delegated both Cardinal Walter Brandmuller and Bishop Athanasius Schneider to visit the seminaries of the SSPX.

The prelates were sent to become better acquainted with the society, and to discuss doctrinal and theological topics in a less formal context in accord with the September 2014 meeting between Bishop Fellay and Cardinal Gerhard Muller, prefect of the CDF.

Both Cardinal Brandmuller and Bishop Schneider may well be among the brother bishops whom Pope Francis said "have told me of the SSPX's] good faith and sacramental practice," coupled with an uneasy pastoral situation - in August, Bishop Schneider told [_Adelante la Fe_ that "I could observe a sound theological, spiritual and human reality" in the society's seminaries.

Another recent sign of reconciliation toward the SSPX came earlier this year when the CDF appointed Bishop Fellay the first-instance judge in a _delicta graviora_ case involving a priest of the society. Archbishop Guido Pozzo, secretary of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, told _Vatican Insider_ the decision was "a sign of benevolence and magnanimity" and "a step toward reconciliation."

In the end, Pope Francis' gesture of an open arm toward the SSPX for the mercy jubilee can be seen in the context of a hope for full reconciliation, amid a history of positive signs punctuated by halts in discussions between Rome and the priestly society.

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**Pope: All European churches to welcome refugees during Year of Mercy**

_by Ann Schneible (CNA/EWTN News)  • September 6, 2015_

Pope Francis visits the Brazilian community of Varginha on July 25, 2013. (Gustavo Kelly/JMJ Rio 2013 via Flickr CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

**Vatican City** -- Pope Francis Sunday issued a strong appeal to the entire European Church - including the Vatican - to take in migrant families as part of the lead-in to the upcoming Jubilee of Mercy.

"Faced with the tragedy of tens of thousands of refugees fleeing death on account of war and hunger, and who are traveling toward a hope for life, the Gospel calls us to be 'neighbors' to the smallest and abandoned, (and) to give them a concrete hope," the Pope said Sept. 6.

He said it's not enough to just say "Courage, patience!" because hope "is combative, with the tenacity of those who go toward a safe destination."

"Therefore, in the imminence of the Year of Mercy, I make an appeal to the parishes, to religious communities, to monasteries, and sanctuaries of all Europe to express the concreteness of the Gospel, and to welcome a family of refugees."

Pope Francis made this call following the weekly recitation of the Angelus prayer in St. Peter's Square, adding that the Vatican's two parishes will also each take in a refugee family.

His remarks came in response to the news of the hundreds of thousands of refugees flooding Europe from the Middle East and Africa.

According to the BBC, more than 350,000 migrants have crossed into Europe in 2015. Many attempt the crossing in overcrowded and unseaworthy boats, leading to scores of deaths due to drowning and starvation.

The situation has reached a fever pitch in recent days, with thousands of migrants arriving to Germany and Austria on foot from Hungary.

The plight of those fleeing war and violence also received renewed attention in recent days when a photo of a drowned Syrian toddler published last week by the British newspaper the Independent began widely circulating the Internet.

Aylan Al-Kurdi, 3, drowned along with his mother and older brother in a failed attempt to reach the nearby Greek island of Kos from Bodrum, their most direct passage into the European Union. The photos of his body washed up on the shore of Bodrum, Turkey quickly went viral, leading many to criticize European leaders for not doing enough to help incoming migrants.

In his speech, Pope Francis extended his appeal to the European bishops, reminding them that "Mercy is the middle name of Love," and cited the Gospel passage from Matthew: "Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me."

Before leading the faithful in the Angelus address, the Pope focused on the day's Gospel from Mark, in which Jesus healed a man who was deaf and mute by touching his ears and tongue, saying "Be opened" as he looked up to heaven.

"The first thing Jesus does is bring that man who is far from the flock: he doesn't want to give publicity to the gesture he is about to make, but neither does he want his word covered by the voices of the din and the gossip of the environment," the Pope said.

He pointed to Jesus' gestures of touching the man's ears and tongue in order to restore the relationship with a man who was "blocked" from communicating.

The first thing Jesus did, he said, was to re-establish contact with the man, "but the miracle is a gift from on high, for which Jesus implored the father."

One of the key lesson learned from this episode is that God isn't closed in on himself, but is open and connects with humanity.

In his immense mercy, God "exceeds the abyss of the infinite difference between him and us, and he comes to us" by being made man himself, Pope Francis continued.

He said the Gospel is also directed to us, noting that frequently we are "folded and closed in on ourselves, and we create so many inhospitable and inaccessible islands."

"Even the most basic human relationships sometimes create a reality incapable of reciprocal opening: the closed couple, the closed family, the closed group, the closed parish, the closed home," he said.

Pope Francis closed his speech by praying that Mary would intercede in supporting all in their commitment to professing the faith and bearing witness to "the marvels of the Lord to those whom we encounter on our way."

After leading pilgrims in the traditional Marian prayer, Francis recalled the life and work of Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, the anniversary of whose death was commemorated yesterday, Sept. 5.

Mother Teresa, he said, gave witness with her life that "the Mercy of God is recognized through our works."

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**Mercy, dialogue to be the focus of World Communications Day**

_by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News)  • September 29, 2015_

Pope Francis before the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica during the convocation of the Jubilee of Mercy, April 11, 2015. (L'Osservatore Romano)

**Vatican City** -- Announced Tuesday, this year's theme for World Communications Day is inspired by the upcoming Jubilee of Mercy, and stresses that social communications should be centered on mercy, dialogue and welcome.

The Pontifical Council of Social Communication announced the choice of "Communication and Mercy: a fruitful encounter" in a Sept. 29 communique from the Vatican.

"Clearly determined" by the Holy Year for Mercy, the theme "highlights the capacity of good communication to open up a space for dialogue, mutual understanding and reconciliation, thereby allowing fruitful human encounters to flourish," the communique read.

"At a time when our attention is often drawn to the polarized and judgmental nature of much commentary on the social networks, the theme invokes the power of words and gestures to overcome misunderstandings, to heal memories and to build peace and harmony."

The jubilee was announced by Pope Francis during a March 13 penitential service, the second anniversary of his papal election. It will open Dec. 8 - the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception - and will close Nov. 20, 2016, the Solemnity of Christ the King.

World Communications Day takes place each year on the Sunday before Pentecost, and is the only worldwide celebration called for by the Second Vatican Council in the 1963 document "Inter Mirifica."

This year the day falls on May 8, 2016. The Pope traditionally releases a message for the day on Jan. 24, observing the feast of St. Francis de Sales, patron saint of writers, journalists and the Catholic press.

In paragraph 12 of the Bull of Indiction of the Holy Year, Pope Francis affirms that "the Church is commissioned to announce the mercy of God, the beating heart of the Gospel, which in its own way must penetrate the heart and mind of every person."

Her language and gestures, he added, "must transmit mercy, so as to touch the hearts of all people and inspire them once more to find the road that leads to the Father."

In this context, it is helpful to remember to be aware that communication is a key element in promoting a culture of encounter, according to the communique.

It was clarified that although in quoting the Jubilee's Bull of Indiction, the Pope referred specifically to the language and gestures of the Church, the context of the message makes it clear the message is for all.

"All men and women in their own communications, in their reaching out to meet others, ought to be motivated by a deep expression of welcome, availability and forgiveness."

The theme serves as a reminder from Pope Francis that in its essence, "communication is a profoundly human achievement," the communique said in conclusion.

"Good communication is never merely the product of the latest or most developed technology, but is realized within the context of a deep interpersonal relationship."

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**Pope Francis to open Bangui 's Holy Door while in Central African Republic**

_by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News)  • November 1, 2015_

Pope Francis before the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica during the convocation of the Jubilee of Mercy, April 11, 2015. (L'Osservatore Romano)

**Vatican City** -- On Sunday Pope Francis announced that he will jump-start the Jubilee of Mercy by opening the diocese of Bangui's Holy Door while in the Central African Republic, as a sign of prayer and solidarity for the war-torn nation.

"To manifest the prayerful closeness of the entire Church to this afflicted and tormented nation and to exhort all Central Africans to increasingly be witnesses of mercy and reconciliation, Sunday, Nov. 29, I plan to open the Holy Door of the Cathedral of Bangui," the Pope said Nov. 1.

One of the novelties for the upcoming Jubilee of Mercy is that for the first time Holy Doors will be designated in every diocese throughout the world.

Each of the four major basilicas in Rome has a holy door, which are normally sealed shut from the inside so that they cannot be opened. The doors are only opened during jubilee years so that pilgrims can enter through them in order to gain the plenary indulgence that is connected with the jubilee.

The rite of the opening of the Holy Door is intended to symbolically illustrate the idea that the Church's faithful are offered an "extraordinary path" toward salvation during the time of jubilee.

As part of the Holy Year for Mercy, holy doors will for the first time be designated in dioceses, and will be located either in the cathedral, in a church of special significance or a shrine of particular importance for pilgrimages.

Though the Jubilee for Mercy doesn't begin until Dec. 8, Pope Francis has decided to open the Holy Door in the Central African Republic's capital 10 days early, during his Nov. 25-30 visit to the African continent.

Francis made the announcement on the Solemnity of All Saints, after leading pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square in the traditional Angelus prayer.

He is scheduled to make stops in three countries while in Africa later this month. He will set foot in Kenya first, where he will stay from Nov. 25-27, before moving on to Uganda Nov. 27-29. His last stop will be the Central African Republic, from Nov. 29-30.

Pope Francis' visit to the Central African Republic comes in the midst of an ongoing, violent conflict.

According to BBC News, the majority of tensions began in March 2013 when several bands of mainly Muslim rebel groups formed an alliance, taking the name Seleka. They left their strongholds in the north of the country and made their way south, seizing power from then-president Francois Bozize.

Since then, fear, uncertainty and violence have swept over the country in a conflict that has so far left some 6,000 people dead.

In remarks after the Angelus, Pope Francis noted that recent episodes of violence "have tightened the delicate situation" in the CAR over the past few days, and are a source of "great concern."

"I make an appeal to all parties involved to put an end to this circle of violence," he said, and offered his spiritual closeness to the Camboni Fathers of the parish of Our Lady of Fatima in Bangui, where many refugees have fled.

The Pope assured his solidarity with the local Catholics, with the other religious confessions in the country and with the Central African nation as a whole, "which is so sorely tested, while making every effort to overcome divisions and return to the path of peace."

After opening the Holy Door in Bangui, Francis will open the Holy Door at St. Peter's Basilica when the jubilee officially begins Dec. 8.

St. John Lateran's door will open Dec. 13, St. Mary Major's Jan. 1, 2016, while that of St. Paul Outside the Walls will open Jan. 26, 2016.

Francis announced the jubilee during a March 13 penitential service, the second anniversary of his papal election. It will open Dec. 8 - the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception - and will close Nov. 20, 2016, the Solemnity of Christ the King.

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**Holy Door in St. Peter 's Basilica uncovered as Jubilee nears**

_by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News)  • November 19, 2015_

The Holy Door unveiling at the Recognitio ceremony in St. Peter's Basilica on November 17, 2015. (L'Osservatore Romano)

**Vatican City** -- Hidden since the Jubilee of 2000, the Holy Door in St. Peter's Basilica was revealed Tuesday as the brick wall covering it was removed in anticipation of the Holy Year of Mercy launching next month.

Cardinal Angelo Comastri, the Archpriest of St. Peter's Basilica, led a special "recognitio" ceremony, culminating in the removal of the brick wall.

According to a Nov. 17 communique from the Vatican, after the cardinal presided over a procession and brief prayer service, workers began to remove the wall brick by brick, beginning with the extraction of a small zinc box containing mementos from the Jubilee of 2000.

Opened with a type of blowtorch, the box held several documents of certification for the closure of the Holy Door in 2000. It also held the keys with which Pope Francis will open it Dec. 8 - the Feast of the Immaculate Conception - when this year's Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy officially begins.

Also inside the box were the parchment deed for the previous jubilee, a few bricks and several commemorative medals.

The box's contents were entrusted to the Master of Ceremonies for St. Peter's Basilica, Msgr. Guido Marini, who was also present for the "recognitio" ceremony. Additionally, Archbishop Rino Fisichella, President of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization, was also in attendance.

Each of the four major basilicas in Rome has a holy door, which are normally sealed shut from the inside so that they cannot be opened. The doors are only opened during jubilee years so that pilgrims can enter through them in order to gain the plenary indulgence that is connected with the jubilee.

Holy Doors in Rome's other major basilica's will be opened throughout the Jubilee year. St. John Lateran's door will open Dec. 13, St. Mary Major's Jan. 1, 2016, and St. Paul Outside the Walls will open Jan. 26, 2016.

The rite of the opening of the Holy Door is intended to symbolically illustrate the idea that the Church's faithful are offered an "extraordinary path" toward salvation during the time of jubilee.

One of the novelties for the upcoming Jubilee of Mercy is that for the first time Holy Doors will be designated in every diocese throughout the world.

For the first time holy doors will be designated in dioceses, and will be located either in the cathedral, in a church of special significance or a shrine of particular importance for pilgrimages.

Though the Jubilee for Mercy doesn't begin until Dec. 8, Pope Francis announced his intention to open the Holy Door in the Central African Republic's capital 10 days early, during his Nov. 25-30 visit to the African continent.

In his Nov. 1 Angelus address, Francis said that he would jump-start the Jubilee by opening the diocese of Bangui's Holy Door while in the Central African Republic, as a sign of prayer and solidarity for the war-torn nation.

Francis also spoke of the significance of the Holy Door during his Nov. 18 general audience. Sitting in front the St. Peter's Basilica, where he will open the Holy Door in just three weeks, he described it as the "great door of God's Mercy."

"On the threshold of the Year of Mercy, I want to reflect today on the meaning of the Holy Door," he said. "It's a door that opens in the Church in order to reach out to those who for many reasons are far away."

He said that families are also invited to open their doors "to meet Jesus, who waits for us patiently, and wants to bring us his blessing and friendship."

"A Church that is not hospitable or a family closed in on itself would be a terrible reality that mortifies the Gospel and makes the world more arid," he said.

The jubilee was announced by Pope Francis during a March 13 penitential service, the second anniversary of his papal election. It will close Nov. 20, 2016, the Solemnity of Christ the King.

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**Seeking peace and mercy, Pope Francis opens the Holy Door of Bangui**

_by CNA/EWTN News  • November 29, 2015_

Pope Francis opens the Holy Doors of Bangui's cathedral on Nov. 29, 2015. (Martha Calderon/CNA)

**Bangui, Central African Republic** --"Bangui is today the spiritual capital of the world," Pope Francis said as he opened the Holy Door of Bangui's cathedral on Sunday -- the first time a Pope has opened a Holy Door outside Rome.

Pope Francis proclaimed: "We all pray for peace, mercy, reconciliation, pardon, love. Throughout the Central African Republic and in all the nations of the world which suffer war, let us pray for peace. And together we all pray for love and peace. We pray together."

The Pope opened the Holy Door in the Central African Republic's capital before the beginning of Sunday Mass Nov. 29.

The Jubilee of Mercy does not begin until Dec. 8, but Pope Francis decided to open the Holy Door in the cathedral of Bangui as a sign of prayer and solidarity with the country.

The Central African Republic is an active warzone following the December 2012 uprising which led to the overthrow of the president. About 6,000 people have died in the conflict, with several thousands more displaced.

The rite of the opening of the Holy Door is intended to symbolize that the Church's faithful are offered an "extraordinary path" toward salvation during the time of jubilee.

As part of the Holy Year for Mercy, holy doors for the first time will be designated in dioceses. These will be located either in the cathedral, in a church of special significance or a shrine of particular importance for pilgrimages.

Each of the four major basilicas in Rome has a holy door. These are normally sealed shut from the inside so that they cannot be opened. The doors are only opened during jubilee years so that pilgrims can enter through them in order to gain the plenary indulgence that is connected with the jubilee.

Pope Francis' Sunday homily emphasized that the power of God's love can overcome "unprecedented devastation." He called on Christians to be leaders in showing mercy, forgiveness, and reconciliation. He also called on those involved in unjust conflict to lay down their weapons.

"Arm yourselves instead with righteousness, with love and mercy, the authentic guarantors of peace," he said.

Pope Francis will open the Holy Door at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome when the Holy Year officially begins Dec. 8.

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**Make the Jubilee of Mercy a 'revolution of tenderness,' Pope urges**

_by CNA/EWTN News  • December 2, 2015_

Pope Francis at the General Audience in St. Peter's Square on Oct. 7, 2015. (Daniel Ibanez/CNA)

**Vatican City** -- Pope Francis has granted an interview to the official website for the Jubilee of Mercy, in which he expresses his intention that the year be an occasion to encounter God's tenderness in a world rife with cruelty and atrocities.

"The revolution of tenderness is that which, today, we must cultivate as a fruit of this year of mercy: the tenderness of God toward each one of us," the Pope told the official Jubilee publication 'Credere' in an interview released Dec. 2.

The Roman Pontiff gave the example of an employer who manages the contracts of their employees in such a way as to deprive them of benefits and pensions. Such an employer does not show tenderness, but rather treats his workers as objects, he said.

In today's world, where we have grown accustomed to hearing about cruelty and atrocities, it is clear that there is need for mercy, he added.

Pope Francis listed some of the atrocities taking place in the world: arms trafficking and production, the brutal murder of the innocent, the exploitation of minors and children. These atrocities constitute "a sacrilege against humanity, since man is sacred. He is the image of the living God," he said.

"I believe that this is the moment of mercy," he said. "We are all sinners. All of us carry weight within."

"It is the year of forgiveness, the year of reconciliation."

Pope Francis stressed the need to recognize God the Father as merciful, and to focus on healing rather than condemnation.

"The world needs to discover that God is Father, that there is mercy, that cruelty is not the way, that condemnation is not the way, because the Church itself at times follows a strict line, (yields) to the temptation to follow a strict line, the temptation to only stress moral norms, yet how many people are left out."

He reiterated the image of the Church as a field hospital, a theme he has touched on in the past. "The wounded are cared for, helped to heal, not subjected to tests to analyze their cholesterol."

Pope Francis said it was his intention to follow in the footsteps of his predecessors in stressing the theme of mercy in the life of the Church. He cited in particular St. John Paul II, with his 1980 encyclical on divine mercy, Dives in misericordia; the canonization of St. Faustina; and the establishment of the feast of Divine Mercy on the octave day of Easter.

"I realized it that it was necessary to do something and continue this tradition."

The Pope said mercy has been a theme of his pontificate since the very beginning, centering his first Angelus address in St. Peter's Square and his first homily in the Vatican parish Sant'Anna on mercy.

"It is not a strategy, but came from within: the Holy Spirit wants something."

Pope Francis was asked about the significance of Divine Mercy for priests and bishops, and the working of mercy in his own life.

"I am a sinner. I feel sinful. I am sure of it," he said, while adding: "I am a forgiven man. God has looked on me with mercy and forgiven me."

Pope Francis said he still sins, and goes to confession every 15 or 20 days, "because I need to feel that God's mercy is still upon me."

The Roman Pontiff recounted a particular moment in his life where he felt God's mercy. It was Sept. 21, 1953, during Argentina's Springtime celebrations. At the age of 17, he was "just a practicing Catholic": He went to Mass on Sundays and took part in Catholic Action, but nothing beyond this. Passing by a church, he felt the need to go to confession.

"And I don't know what happened. I walked out different, changed. I returned home with the certainty that I must consecrate myself to the Lord."

The priest who heard his confession accompanied him for a year, before succumbing to leukemia. Pope Francis said his death caused him to think that God had abandoned him.

"This was the moment in which I came upon God's mercy," he said, recalling that Sept. 21 - the day he was called into the Church as a teenager - is the feast of St. Matthew. He therefore drew his episcopal motto from an account by St. Bede of Christ's call of St. Matthew: "miserando atque eligendo," or, "By having mercy, by choosing him."

The journalist asked about how mercy is presented in the Bible as being in the "womb" of God, and how the Jubilee of Mercy is an occasion to reflect on this "maternity" of God and the feminine aspect of the Church.

While there is a "maternal dimension to God," the Pope acknowledged this way of describing God is not widely understood.

He therefore prefers to speak of "tenderness," specifically that of a mother: "The tenderness of God, born from the paternal womb: God is father and mother."

The journalist asked the Pope how the Jubilee of Mercy will bring about a conversion among families, citing St. John XXIII's famous line in which he told families to return home and "give a caress to your children."

"When I see the sick, the elderly, I spontaneously caress them," Pope Francis said. The first gesture made by a mother and father toward their newborn baby, he said, it communicates "I love you."

Asked what he he would do over the course of the Jubilee to give witness to God's mercy, the Pope said he would make a "different gesture" on one Friday of each month during the Holy Year.

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VATICAN NEWS

**Benedict XVI will attend Holy Door opening at Vatican to start Year of Mercy**

_by CNA/EWTN News  • December 5, 2015_

Pope Francis with Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI at the Monastery of Mater Ecclesiae in Vatican City on June 30, 2015. (L'Osservatore Romano)

**Vatican City** -- The Vatican has announced Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI will take part in the official inauguration of the Jubilee of Mercy with the opening of the Holy Door on Dec. 8.

The retired pontiff "accepted the invitation of Pope Francis to attend the opening of the Holy Door" in St. Peter's Basilica, Holy See press office director, Fr. Federico Lombardi, SJ. said Dec. 5.

He added that Benedict XVI would not take part in the whole ceremony, but said he would be "present in the Basilica Atrium on the occasion of the right of opening," following the Eucharistic celebration.

This will be the first time the Holy Door has been opened since the Great Jubilee in the 2000 called for by St. John Paul II.

Tuesday's celebrations will also mark one of Benedict XVI's rare public appearances since his retirement in 2013. Since then, the emeritus pontiff has taken part in a few events at the invitation of Pope Francis including the consistory in Feb. 22, 2014; the festival of grandparents Sept. 27, 2014; and the Canonization Mass of John XXIII and John Paul II on Apr. 27, 2014.

The rite of the opening of the Holy Door is intended to symbolically illustrate the idea that the Church's faithful are offered an "extraordinary path" toward salvation during the time of jubilee.

Each of the four major basilicas in Rome has a holy door, which are normally sealed shut from the inside so that they cannot be opened. The doors are only opened during jubilee years so that pilgrims can enter through them in order to gain the plenary indulgence that is connected with the jubilee.

Holy Doors in Rome's other major basilica's will be opened throughout the Jubilee year. St. John Lateran's door will open Dec. 13, St. Mary Major's Jan. 1, 2016, and St. Paul Outside the Walls will open Jan. 26, 2016.

One of the novelties for the upcoming Jubilee of Mercy is that for the first time Holy Doors will be designated in every diocese throughout the world.

For the first time Holy Doors will be designated in dioceses, and will be located either in the cathedral, in a church of special significance or a shrine of particular importance for pilgrimages.

The Jubilee of Mercy is an Extraordinary Holy Year that will open this year on Dec. 8 - the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception - and will close Nov. 20, 2016 with the Solemnity of Christ the King.

The Pope first announced the Year of Mercy on March 13, the second anniversary of his pontifical election, during a Lenten penitential liturgy in St. Peter's Basilica.

On April 11, the Holy Father officially proclaimed the Jubilee Year with the release of the Bull of Indiction.

Mercy is a theme that is dear to Pope Francis, and is the central topic of his episcopal motto "miserando atque eligendo," which he chose when ordained a bishop in 1992.

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VATICAN NEWS

**The Year of Mercy: What 's it all about?**

_by Ann Schneible (CNA/EWTN News)  • December 7, 2015_

Pope Francis goes to confession as part of a penitential mass at St Peter's Basilica at the Vatican on March 28, 2014. (ANSA/L'Osservatore Romano)

**Vatican City** -- One of the central aims of the Jubilee of Mercy will be to reorient the Sacrament of Confession back to the center of the Church's pastoral life, explained one official involved in organizing the year-long event.

"Mercy is the tangible expression of God's love in the world," said Fr. Geno Sylva, official for the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization (PCPNE).

"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."

"I really believe that by recognizing and experiencing how incredibly patient and forgiving God is with each one of us in our imperfections and failings, we can become ever more patient and forgiving of those with whom we live, work, and interact every day," he told CNA.

The Jubilee of Mercy is an Extraordinary Holy Year that will officially commence December 8 - the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception - with the opening of the Holy Door in St. Peter's Basilica. It will close Nov. 20, 2016 with the Solemnity of Christ the King.

The Pontifical Council is charged with putting Pope Francis' vision for the Year of Mercy into practice - both in the Vatican and abroad.

"The Holy Father wants the Jubilee of Mercy to be an opportunity to place the sacrament of God's mercy - which is the sacrament of penance and reconciliation - into the central pastoral life for the Church," Fr. Sylva said.

"We know that, unfortunately, Catholics don't take advantage of the sacrament as much as they should, and so this is an opportunity for us to remind people of God's desire to forgive us and that he's always there to forgive us no matter the sin."

To help emphasize the role of the Sacrament of Penance during the Jubilee, Pope Francis has called the Church to send out "Missionaries of Mercy" - priests with the faculties to pardon sins in cases otherwise reserved for the Holy See.

These priests, whom the Pope will send out on Ash Wednesday, 2016, will serve as "a visible sign of the importance of the sacrament of reconciliation in our lives of faith," Fr. Sylva said.

"It is the responsibility of the (Pontifical Council) to select the Missionaries of Mercy," Fr. Sylva said. He explained that many of those selected have applied to the Council, along with a letter of recommendation from the bishop showing how they "epitomize and embody" a missionary of mercy, as described in Pope Francis' Bull for the Jubilee released earlier this year.

He added that some priests selected as "Missionaries of Mercy" did not apply, but were recommended to the Pontifical Council.

Pope Francis has extended the sacrament of confession's availability to the world in other ways as well. 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. The Pope has also granted faculties to priests of the Society of Pius X to hear confessions during the Jubilee as a step towards reconciling the traditionalist fraternity with the Holy See.

One of the characteristics of any Jubilee Year is the opening of Holy Door in St. Peter's Basilica, which allows those who pass through to obtain a plenary indulgence under the usual conditions. The official "Holy Doors" are only found in the four major basilicas of Rome. For the Jubilee of Mercy, however, Pope Francis has asked that the tradition of the Holy Door be available at the local level.

"The Holy Father has stressed that this Jubilee is not only to be celebrated in Rome but in all of the particular churches of the world," Fr. Sylva said.

"This is why he has asked every bishop in the world to choose in his diocese a Holy Door, a Door of Mercy, so that all people may have a chance to make a pilgrimage through a Door of Mercy."

"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.

The Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization is overseeing visits to the Holy Door in St. Peter's Basilica, and encourages pilgrims to register at their website.

"Because there's going to be so many people that'll want to get through the Holy Door, we just want to make sure that it's really prayerful," Fr. Sylva said. "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 addition to approving "missionaries of mercy" and helping pilgrims cross through the Holy Door of St. Peter's, the Pontifical Council is also tasked with charitable initiatives worldwide.

For instance, Fr. Sylva explained, the Pope has asked the council to establish an agricultural college in Burkina Faso, West Africa, which teaches young people to provide for themselves through agriculture.

"The Holy Father would like us to leave behind, after the Jubilee of Mercy, really concrete signs of God's mercy, he said.

The Pope first announced the Year of Mercy on March 13, the second anniversary of his pontifical election, during a Lenten penitential liturgy in St. Peter's Basilica.

On April 11, the Holy Father officially proclaimed the Jubilee Year with the release of the Bull of Indiction.

Mercy is a theme that is dear to Pope Francis, and is the central topic of his episcopal motto "miserando atque eligendo," which he chose when ordained a bishop in 1992.

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VATICAN NEWS

**It 's time to rediscover God's mercy, Pope says at Jubilee launch**

_by Ann Schneible (CNA/EWTN News)  • December 8, 2015_

Pope Francis prays after opening the Holy Door in St. Peter's Basilica on Dec. 8, 2015, launching the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy. (L'Osservatore Romano)

**Vatican City** -- Pope Francis has officially commenced the Jubilee of Mercy, calling those who pass through the newly-opened Holy Door to rediscover God's mercy and experience the mystery of his love.

"This Extraordinary Holy Year is itself a gift of grace," Pope Francis said in his homily for Mass, just before opening the Holy Door in St. Peter's Basilica.

"To pass through the Holy Door means to rediscover the infinite mercy of the Father who welcomes everyone and goes out personally to encounter each of them. This will be a year in which we grow ever more convinced of God's mercy."

Mercy, he said, must be placed before judgment, though "God's judgment will always be in the light of his mercy."

"In passing through the Holy Door, then, may we feel that we ourselves are part of this mystery of love," he said.

"Let us set aside all fear and dread, for these do not befit men and women who are loved. Instead, let us experience the joy of encountering that grace which transforms all things."

The Dec. 8 opening of the Jubilee of Mercy, an Extraordinary Holy Year, coincided with the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. The Holy Year will close Nov. 20, 2016 with the Solemnity of Christ the King.

The Jubilee was officially inaugurated by the opening of the Holy Door in St. Peter's Basilica. Pilgrims who pass through the door -- which is only opened during Jubilee years -- can receive a plenary indulgence under the usual conditions.

Pope Francis presided over the rite of the Holy Door's opening before passing through himself. He was followed by retired pontiff Benedict XVI, who attended the rite in one of his rare public appearances.

The opening of the 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.

Pope Francis in his homily spoke of the Holy Door in connection to the day's Gospel, which recounts the angel Gabriel announcing to Mary she would be the mother of God.

"We carry out this act, so simple yet so highly symbolic, in the light of the word of God which we have just heard," Pope Francis said.

"That word highlights the primacy of grace... God's grace enfolded her and made her worthy of becoming the Mother of Christ."

When Gabriel entered Mary's home, "even the most profound and impenetrable of mysteries became for her a cause for joy, faith and abandonment to the message revealed to her," the Pope continued.

Pope Francis' reflection in his homily centered on the Immaculate Conception, celebrated Tuesday, and described the feast as an expression of "the grandeur of God's love."

"Not only does he forgive sin, but in Mary he even averts the original sin present in every man and woman who comes into this world."

"The fullness of grace can transform the human heart and enable it to do something so great as to change the course of human history," he said.

The Pope made reference to the day's first Mass reading, the Genesis account of man's fall in the Garden of Eden.

"The words of Genesis reflect our own daily experience: we are constantly tempted to disobedience, a disobedience expressed in wanting to go about our lives without regard for God's will," he said.

"Yet the history of sin can only be understood in the light of God's love and forgiveness. Were sin the only thing that mattered, we would be the most desperate of creatures."

"The promised triumph of Christ's love enfolds everything in the Father's mercy," the Pope said. "The Immaculate Virgin stands before us as a privileged witness of this promise and its fulfillment."

Pope Francis concluded his homily recalling the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council's closing, which is also commemorated Dec. 8. He stressed that the Jubilee of Mercy is a challenge for us to the "openness" inspired by the Council.

The Council was "a genuine encounter between the Church and the men and women of our time," in which the Holy Spirit "impelled the Church to emerge from the shoals which for years had kept her self-enclosed so as to set out once again, with enthusiasm, on her missionary journey."

"Wherever there are people, the Church is called to reach out to them and to bring the joy of the Gospel," the Pope said.

"The Jubilee challenges us to this openness, and demands that we not neglect the spirit which emerged from Vatican II, the spirit of the Samaritan, as Blessed Paul VI expressed it at the conclusion of the Council."

In his Angelus address delivered after the opening of the Holy Door, Pope Francis called the faithful to look on the Immaculate Conception as a reminder that, "in our life, everything is a gift. Everything is mercy."

"May the Blessed Virgin, the first fruits of the saved, the model of the Church, holy and immaculate Bride, loved by the Lord, help us to rediscover the mercy of God more and more, in a way characteristic of Christians."

The Pope said the opening of the Jubilee of Mercy is an occasion to look on the Immaculate Conception "with trusting love, to contemplate her in all her splendor, (and imitate) her faith."

"In the Immaculate conception of Mary, we are invited to recognize the dawn of the new world, transformed from the saving work of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."

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VATICAN NEWS

**Why a Jubilee of Mercy? Because the Church needs it, Pope Francis says**

_by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News)  • December 9, 2015_

Pope Francis kisses a child in St. Peter's Square for the general audience, Dec. 9, 2015. (Daniel Ibanez/CNA)

**Vatican City** -- The day after opening the Holy Year of Mercy, Pope Francis dedicated his general audience remarks to answering the question of why he called for a jubilee on the subject, saying the primary reason is simply because it's needed.

"Why a Jubilee of Mercy? What does this mean?" the Pope asked pilgrims present in St. Peter's Square Dec. 9 for his weekly general audience.

The answer, he said, is because "the Church needs this extraordinary moment. I'm not (just) saying 'it's good,' no! I'm saying: the Church needs it."

Pope Francis opened the Jubilee of Mercy, an Extraordinary Holy Year, Dec. 8, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. The Holy Year will close Nov. 20, 2016, with the Solemnity of Christ the King.

The Jubilee was officially inaugurated by the by the Pope when he opened the Holy Door in St. Peter's Basilica. Pilgrims who pass through the door - which is only opened during Jubilee years, ordinarily every 25 years or when a Pope calls for an extraordinary Jubilee - can receive a plenary indulgence under the usual conditions.

Francis presided over the rite of the Holy Door's opening before passing through himself. He was followed by retired pontiff Benedict XVI, who attended the rite in one of his rare public appearances.

The opening of the 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.

In his remarks at the general audience, Francis noted that in an age of great change, the Church is called to make God's presence and closeness known.

The Jubilee, he said, "is an ideal time for all of us, because in contemplating Divine Mercy, which overcomes every human limit and sheds light on the darkness of sin, we can become more convincing and effective witnesses."

Through the Holy Year, the Church is turning our gaze to the heart of the Gospel, Jesus Christ who is "mercy made flesh," the Pope said. To celebrate a Jubilee dedicated to mercy, he added, means putting "the specific aspects of the Christian faith" back at the center of our personal and communitarian life.

"This Holy Year is offered to us in order to experience in our lives the sweet and gentle touch of the forgiveness of God, his presence beside us and his closeness above all in moments of greatest need," he said.

Pope Francis then noted that mercy is in fact what "pleases God most," and is what is most needed by the world today, when there is "little forgiveness" in society, institutions, work and even the family.

He stressed the importance of recognizing that forgiving his children is what most pleases God, but without falling into the temptation "of thinking that there is something else more important or more of a priority."

Nothing, he said, "is more important that choosing that which pleases God most: his mercy!"

The Pope then observed that this need for mercy also includes the reform of the Church and her structures and institutions.

"Mercy is truly able to contribute to the building of a more human world," he said, questioning whether the mere contemplation of God's mercy is enough in front of the many needs of today's world.

While there is certainly a lot to do, Francis cautioned that the biggest enemy of mercy is "self-love," which in the world is manifested in the exclusive pursuit of one's own interests, in the search of hedonistic pleasures and honors, as well as the greedy desire to accumulate wealth.

However, in the life of Christians, this self-love it is often disguised "in hypocrisy and worldliness," he said, adding that "all these things are contrary to mercy."

"The movements of self-love, which make mercy foreign in the world, are so numerous that often we fail to recognize them as limitations and as sin. This is why it's necessary to recognize that we are sinners, to reinforce in us the certainty of Divine Mercy," he said.

In forgetting God's mercy, we become blind to seeing sin for what it really is, the Pope said, explaining that this is why this Jubilee of Mercy is so important.

Francis closed his audience by praying that Mary, the Mother of God and also our mother, would intercede for us "so that in this Holy Year we can experience the mercy of God and manifest it to others."

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VATICAN NEWS

**The Year of Mercy and theology: A conversation with Cardinal M uller**

_by Angela Ambrogetti, Andrea Gagliarducci, and Marco Mancini (CNA/EWTN News)  • December 10, 2015_

Cardinal Gerhard Muller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, at the Vatican's Synod Hall, Nov. 17, 2014. (Bohumil Petrik/CNA)

**Vatican City** -- At the opening of the Year of Mercy called by Pope Francis, Cardinal Gerhard Muller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, has granted to CNA an exclusive interview touching on mercy in several of its aspects.

Please find below the full text of the conversation:

**CNA:** What is mercy for a theologian?

**Cardinal M uller:** Above all the theologian, every theologian, is a human being, a baptized person who experiences mercy just as does everyone else. Without this in mind, without the living experience of mercy, paraphrasing what St. Paul said on charity, even our words that were spoken would be like "a resounding gong," as a mere breath of sound... Mercy for us is inseparable from the face of Jesus. That Jesus who first made himself known to us through the face of the families into which we are born and then in the context of the Church that we have lived. After, we learn to know him in Scripture, in the Sacraments, through the life of his witnesses, of the saints more or less known that are present in history in every age. And then also through the teaching of the great ecclesial tradition, with the word of theologians, of teachers and doctors of the Church, through the teaching of the Magisterium. But all of this is necessary in reference to a vital experience, with the aim of making us deepen that experience and the the deep gaze that we have over that experience.

So the theologian is an aid in deepening this gaze on that fact which is the mercy of God, a fact which is manifested to us in many ways, so that the field of God's action is the entire world. It can be manifested with the gesture of someone who supports us or corrects us, or even with the fact that they remind us to live in the truth of our existence. In any case, mercy is for me an event through which my life is called with renewed strength to the good and to truth, with which I feel called to live in that goodness and in that truth, which recreates my life and re-energizes in me that interior face that I received from God and which puts me into relationship with him, continuously opening me to the good of my brothers and sisters. The mercy with which Jesus invests our hearts, at times strongly, a times with tenderness, is a surge of goodness and of truth with which he urges us to change our lives for the better and to be open to those around us, making them feel close, like a neighbor. Mercy makes us continuously know that God who is revealed in Jesus and who increasingly reveals us to ourselves and to others. And it teaches us to look, to love ourselves and others in that perspective of goodness and truth with which Jesus himself looks at us.

In this sense, the act of sacramental confession is for me paradigmatic of mercy: each time that we confess, we get closer to the Lord with a gaze burdened by our sins and we can leave rejoicing, affected by his gaze upon us, a gaze that is just and good at the same time, which doesn't give cheap discounts, yet never abandons us to the mercy of our miseries. A gaze that demands much from us because it knows we can give a lot when we receive from him; but he does it like a good father who knows how to be patient with his children and never tires of accompanying them and therefore never abandons them.

**CNA:** God frees us from sin with mercy. Is this the only true liberation theology?

**Cardinal M uller:** This is the first liberation theology, from which many others result. When the heart is freed from sin, then also the rest of our personality receives the benefit. Freedom begins to dilate and take on its true dimensions, which are sustained and powered by the intellect and the will. Thanks to forgiveness and mercy, man learns to accept that his freedom begins by depending on God, learning the taste of gratuity, to recognize that everything he has was not his right but was given, and to love the good and the truth more than his own comforts and immediate advantages, to desire life without end... that is, to already love the things of heaven while on this earth! All the works of mercy, both spiritual and corporal, that the Church teaches and which educate us, tracing their origins from here: we can live mercy only because we have first received it.

**CNA:** You are also president of the International Theological Commission; what does this have to do with mercy?

**Cardinal M uller:** Mercy isn't just free-market loving each other. When God bursts into the life of man, in the measure of his acceptance, it tends to change also the way he looks at things, his attitude, the criteria of his actions and thus, by grace, also his behavior. Theology, thanks to faith, is an aid to looking at our lives from the point of view of God, (who) revealing himself, opens us up to ourselves, to other men, to the world. And it does so by way of a critical and systematic reflection on everything that God gives us, in this way the gifts of God can be accepted by man with ever more clarity and depth. In this way, knowing God and the gifts of his mercy in an ever greater way, we can respond in an ever better way to his love and love him ever more in (our) actions.

The International Theological Commission attempts to aid this with a specific service rendered to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and the Pope, with the participation of some experts from the entire world, proposed by different bishops' conferences. The fact that the experts come from all the continents helps to look at the issues with a particular openness and a universal consideration of the problems. It is important that this theological vision reflects the universal character of the Church and puts it into practice, also because theology is at the service of doctrine and, in turn, doctrine is at the service of pastoral care, which at the same time helps theology and pastoral care to better specify the object of their attention. It is an uninterrupted circularity of theology, doctrine, and pastoral care in which doctrine has a certain precedence because it authoritatively marks the path to theology and pastoral care.

Currently, the Commission is deepening its study on some themes that are very close to Pope Francis' heart, such as synodality, that is, the necessity that ecclesial life may be ever more conceived as a walking together after the Lord and toward the challenges that he opens up to us. Additionally, (there is) the relationship between faith and sacraments, an issue that was recently closely associated to the discussions that took place in the last two synods on the family. Or also on religious liberty, that is, the concrete point that is the order of the day for so many Christians in the world, persecuted for their faith. It's a high-level reflection that has the aim of assisting the entire Church to look with ever greater truth at some important points in its life, because mercy doesn't end with the gesture of forgiveness but it is an impetus to renewal that regards (one's) entire life!

**CNA:** How can one be merciful and also correct doctrinal errors?

**Cardinal M uller:** How can a father be merciful and correct his children? In reality, if a father doesn't correct his children, but justifies or minimizes their mistakes, he wouldn't love them and would drive them to disaster. In the end, a father who doesn't help his children to recognize their mistakes doesn't really esteem them and doesn't have trust in their ability to change.

Because mercy brings inscribed in itself, indelibly and inseparably, love and truth. It belongs to the Christian tradition, from the Scriptures through the Magisterium of recent Popes, that love and truth go together, or together they fall: it isn't love without truth and it's not authentic truth without love. And because of this, shouldn't doctrine also apply?

Mercy is contrary to the laissez-faire... is this not God's attitude toward man: it is enough to read the Gospel and see how Jesus acted, who was good but at the same time didn't make cheap discounts on the truth. And doctrine has the precise goal of helping us to know the truth and to accept it in its entirety and not to cheat on truth. Today one tires of understanding the importance and the utility of doctrine also in the Church for two reasons: on one hand, because the worldview in which we live gives importance above all to that which man can immediately touch, and on the other because doctrine is heard, and many times taught, in an enlightened and idealistic way, as an abstract set of ideas that crystallize and imprison the richness of life. In reality doctrine, for us Christians, doesn't have as its final reference of ideas on God and salvation that he offers us, but the same life of God and his 'irruption' in the life of man: it is an aid in understanding who God is and what is going on with the salvation God offers to the concrete life of man. But to understand this requires a humble reason which doesn't stand presumptuously as the measure of all things. Unfortunately the thought that comes from modernity, which has left us a legacy also of many beautiful things, has deprived us of precisely that humility...

**CNA:** The jubilee, every jubilee, begins by opening the "holy door" of Saint Peter's. This year the Pope began the jubilee opening the "holy door of mercy" in Africa. What does all this mean?

**Cardinal M uller:** The "door" to salvation is Jesus Christ himself. To open the "holy door" means to open wide to man the path that leads to Jesus and to invite everyone to grow closer to him without fear, as John Paul II and Benedict XVI have reminded us since the beginning of their pontificates. There is no salvation for man without Jesus: it is he who mysteriously moves the heart of every man to the good and to the true, because he is the truth and the good in person! Each jubilee is an occasion: a renewed occasion that is born from the heart of God and leads to the heart of God, because man's life will be changed for the better and a little bit of life in heaven is already anticipated here on earth. Pope Francis gave this gesture a special meaning: since the beginning of his pontificate he has insisted on the peripheries, on reality seen from the geographic and human peripheries of the world, in order to give relief to the human condition lived there, to put into relief the needs of the people who live in those conditions, as kairos to encounter and announce the face of Christ today. Where lives the face of Jesus crucified and disfigured - from which our gaze would gladly turn elsewhere - it is exactly there that the Pope invites us to look. Perhaps also discovering a human richness that we wouldn't imagine.

This is why, I believe, Pope Francis wanted to open the holy door first of all in Africa, and specifically in an area troubled by conflict and violence. I remember the gesture of John Paul II when he wanted to celebrate Mass in Sarajevo, where war was raging, a fratricidal war. It is a prophetic call to recognize the face of Jesus where we would never go to look for it. And it's also an invitation to serve Jesus there, wherever the most pressing and essential needs of man arise. Knowing full well that along with bread and even more than bread, man needs Jesus, and that the first poverty is the absence of God, from which derive all other forms of poverty. So the jubilee is a great occasion to rediscover all of that and to break the silence on this fact, on the face that the first poverty of man is the lack of God in his life.

**CNA:** What do you hope for from this Year of Mercy?

**Cardinal M uller:** I desire that the Church and all of us follow Jesus with increasing fidelity, so that we no longer remain prisoners of our fragility and misery, and in this way we will be able to better serve our brothers and sisters, both inside and outside the Church. Because the entire world needs Christ, needs to be relieved and renewed by his love. And because mercy is a grace that comes from on high and changes our lives: it takes us as we are but doesn't leave us as we are. Thank God! This is what I hope for above all in my life, as for the Church and the entire world: to continuously experience this love which doesn't leave us at ease, but opens wide our heart and changes us.

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VATICAN NEWS

**Pope Francis postpones Milan visit due to 'intense' Jubilee schedule**

_by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News)  • December 10, 2015_

Pope Francis greets pilgrims in St. Peter's Square after the Wednesday general audience, May 7, 2014. (Daniel Ibañez/CNA)

**Vatican City** -- The Vatican announced today that due to Pope Francis' busy schedule during the Jubilee of Mercy, he has decided to postpone his May 7, 2016, visit to the diocese of Milan until the following year.

A Dec. 10 communique from the Vatican announced that Milan's Archbishop, Cardinal Angelo Scola, received a note from the Secretariat of State saying that due to "the intensification of the Jubilee commitments," Pope Francis has decided "to postpone his pastoral visits in Italy."

"As a result, the visit to Milan already officially scheduled and announced for May 7, 2016, will be postponed until the year 2017."

Cardinal Scola informally announced the Pope's visit to Milan in an Oct. 27 communique posted on the diocese's website, after first making it known during a meeting with Lebanese Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros Rai earlier that morning.

In the statement, the cardinal said that the Pope's visit would be "a delicate sign of affection and esteem for the Ambrosian Church, for the city of Milan and for all of Lombardy."

He expressed his confidence that the people who live in the Milan and Lombardy regions of Italy would welcome the "great gift" of the Pope's visit with joy.

Milan is the second largest city in Italy, and serves as the capital of the country's northern Lombardy region. The last Pope to visit Milan was Benedict XVI in 2012, when he traveled to the diocese June 1-3 for the 7th World Meeting of Families.

Though Pope Francis has decided to push back his visit to Milan, at least two international trips still remain on his schedule for 2016.

In late July the Pope is scheduled to visit Krakow, Poland for World Youth Day, which holds the theme: "Blessed are the Merciful, for they shall obtain Mercy."

Francis will also visit Mexico early next year. The Pope himself confirmed the trip to reporters while on the way to Kenya Nov. 25, telling journalist Valentina Alazraki that his trip to Mexico would include four cities, including Ciudad Juarez on the Mexican-U.S. border.

Although the Holy See Press Office still hasn't officially announced the trip, rumors and reports and have been steadily building. On Nov. 1 Cardinal Norberto Rivera, Archbishop of Mexico City, announced that Pope Francis would visit Mexico the week of Feb. 12.

Among the Pope's newest commitments for the Holy Year is that he will make a private "sign" on "one Friday of every month." He will also hold one extra general audience a month on a Saturday.

Pope Francis officially inaugurated the Jubilee Dec. 8 on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception by opening the Holy Door in St. Peter's Basilica. It will close Nov. 20, 2016, the Solemnity of Christ the King.

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VATICAN NEWS

**The new annulment process went into effect this week**

_by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News)  • December 10, 2015_

(isak55 via shutterstock.com)

**Vatican City** -- With the launch of the Jubilee of Mercy, Pope Francis' reforms to the annulment process have gone into effect, giving more of a role to the local bishop, dropping automatic appeals, and ensuring that the process is free of charge.

The new process is aimed at streamlining the system for granting annulments out of concern "for the salvation of souls" while affirming the longstanding Catholic teaching on marriage indissolubility.

Originally announced in September, the changes went into effect Dec. 8, the feast of the Immaculate Conception and the opening day of the Jubilee for Mercy.

The changes were initially published in two motu proprio - or letters issued by the Pope "on his own initiative." The documents were entitled "Mitis Iudex Dominus Iesus" (The Lord Jesus, a meek judge), which deals with modifications in the Latin Rite's Code of Canon Law, and "Mitis et misericors Iesus" (Jesus, meek and merciful), which outlines changes for Eastern Churches who, although in full communion with Rome, have historically had a different process.

Both documents reflect many of the same changes, however instead of bishops, "Mitis et misericors Iesu" refers to Eastern patriarchs and eparchies.

In a brief introduction, Pope Francis stressed that his adjustments "do not favor the nullifying of marriages but the promptness of the processes."

He said that he decided to make the changes in line with the desire of his brother bishops, who during last year's extraordinary synod on the family called for the process to be "faster and more accessible."

Many have criticized the current process of obtaining an annulment for being long, complex and in some places, too expensive.

Reform was also required due to "the enormous number of faithful who... too often are diverted from juridical structures of the Church due to physical or moral distance," the Pope said, adding that "charity and mercy" require the Church as mother to draw close to her children who consider themselves far off.

Among the more significant changes the Pope made were dropping the automatic appeal needed after a decision on nullity has been reached, as well as allowing local bishops to make their own judgements on "evident" cases of marriage nullity.

Until now, once a decision had been made to declare a marriage null, the ruling was automatically appealed to another body, a practice many have blamed for unnecessary delays in the process.

With Francis' new changes, only one judgement will be needed. However, in the case that it is appealed, the Pope said that appeals can be done in the nearest metropolitan diocese, rather than needing to go to Rome.

He also decided that each diocese throughout the world will have the responsibility to name a judge or tribunal to process incoming cases.

The bishop can be the only judge, or he can establish a three-member tribunal. If a three-member tribunal is established, it must have at least one cleric, while the other two members can be laypersons.

Francis has also declared that the annulment process will be free of charge. Although the practice is already in place in many dioceses around the world, the new change makes it universal.

In his introduction, the Pope recognized that the streamlined process, particularly the new procedures surrounding the decisions made by bishops, could raise concern over the Church's teaching on the indissolubility of marriage.

"It has not escaped me how an abbreviated judgment might put the principle of indissolubility of marriage at risk," he said.

"Indeed, because of this I wanted that in this process the judge would be composed of the bishop, so that the strength of his pastoral office is, with Peter, the best guarantee of Catholic unity in faith and discipline."

The Pope also explained that he wanted to offer the new process to bishops so it can be "applied in cases in which the accused nullity of the marriage is sustained by particularly evident arguments."

_A version of this article originally ran on CNA Sept. 8, 2015, with the headline, "Revamped annulment process focuses on speed, role of local bishops."_

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VATICAN NEWS

**As Jesus ' birth nears, sadness is 'not allowed,' Pope says**

_by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News)  • December 13, 2015_

Pope Francis celebrates Gaudete Sunday Mass at the Basilica of St. John Lateran after opening its Holy Door on Dec 13, 2015. (Daniel Ibanez/CNA)

**Vatican City** -- On Gaudete Sunday Pope Francis opened the Holy Door of Rome's basilica of St. John Lateran, telling attendees that the joy of Jesus' birth overcomes the sadness caused by hatred and violence.

As Christmas approaches, "we cannot let ourselves be taken in by fatigue; sadness in any form is not allowed, even though we have reason to be with the many concerns and the many forms of violence which hurt humanity," the Pope said Dec. 13.

Instead, the coming of the Lord "must fill our hearts with joy," he said, noting that God is always someone who protects his people.

In the contest of a history filled with great abuse and violence, especially by those in power, "God knows that he will reign over his people, he would never leave them at the mercy of the arrogance of its leaders, and will free them from all anxiety," the Pope said.

"Today we are asked not to let our hands grow weak because of doubt, impatience or suffering," but to place our trust in Lord.

Pope Francis celebrated Mass for the third Sunday of Advent at the basilica of St. John Lateran. The day is often referred to by its Latin name, Gaudete Sunday, which indicates that it is a day of 'rejoicing' as the birth of the Savior draws near.

Before celebrating the Mass Francis opened the basilica's Holy Door for the Jubilee of Mercy. He prayed for a brief moment on the threshold, and was followed through by concelebrants of the Mass, religious men and women and lay faithful.

One of the novelties of Francis' Holy Year of Mercy is that for the first time Holy Doors have been designated in particular dioceses.

Cathedrals around the world will join the Pope in opening their own Holy Door's on the same day, Gaudete Sunday. Following the Pope's Mass, Cardinal James Harvey celebrated Mass and opened the Holy Door at basilica of St. Paul's Outside the Walls.

Pilgrims who pass through the door - which is only opened during Jubilee years - can receive a plenary indulgence under the usual conditions.

The opening of the 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.

Francis officially inaugurated the Jubilee of Mercy, and Extraordinary Holy Year, on the Dec. 8 Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception by the opening of the Holy Door in St. Peter's Basilica. It will close Nov. 20, 2016, on the Solemnity of Christ the King.

In his homily, Pope Francis pointed to the prophet Zephaniah's declaration in the first reading that "the Lord is near." Because of this, "we should rejoice always, and with our affability give witness of the closeness and care that God has for each person."

The "simple sign" of opening the Holy Door is itself an invitation to joy, he said, because "it begins a time of the great forgiveness. It is the Jubilee of Mercy."

The Jubilee is a time to rediscover the presence of God in the world as well as his fatherly tenderness, Francis said, explaining in off-the-cuff remarks that God "doesn't like rigidity. He's a father, he's tender."

Pope Francis then pointed to the day's Gospel from Luke, in which the people asked John the Baptist what they must do to prepare for the coming of the Savior.

"The Baptist's response was immediate," he said, noting how John's invitation to act justly and to look after those in need also extends to each of us today.

While John's demands were a reflection of what the law already prescribed, "we, however, are prompted toward a more radical commitment," Francis said.

In looking at the Holy Door they will cross, each person is asked to become an instrument of mercy, "knowing that we will be judged on this," he said.

A person who is baptized "knows he has a greater commitment," he observed, adding that faith in Christ "leads to a journey that lasts for a lifetime: to be merciful, like the Father."

"The joy of crossing the Gate of Mercy is accompanied by a commitment to welcome and give witness to a love that goes beyond justice, a love that knows no boundaries. It is from this infinite love that we are responsible, in spite of our contradictions."

Pope Francis closed his homily by praying that everyone who passes through the Holy Door, the "Gate of Mercy," would understand and welcome "the infinite love of our Heavenly Father, who transforms and renews life."

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VATICAN NEWS

**To obtain peace, we have to fight indifference with mercy, Pope says**

_by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News)  • December 15, 2015_

Pope Francis at the Wednesday general audience in St. Peter's Square on June 17, 2015. (Bohumil Petrik/CNA)

**Vatican City** -- Pope Francis' message for 2016's World Day of Peace is packed with bold pastoral and practical advice for both the Church as well as international leaders.

In it, he focused on the need to work for peace by overcoming the attitude of indifference and fostering a greater sense of solidarity, mercy and compassion.

He advocated for concrete acts of mercy on the part of families, individuals and political leaders, such as the abolition of the death penalty and amnesty for prisoners convicted of political offenses.

Also encouraged by the Pope was a review of legislation in terms of migrants, a greater attention toward women, particularly in terms of equality in the workplace, and debt forgiveness.

"God is not indifferent! God cares about mankind! God does not abandon us!" was the opening line of Francis' message for the 2016 World Day of Peace, published Dec. 15.

Instituted by Bl. Pope Paul VI in 1968, the World Day of Peace is celebrated each year on the first day of January.

The Pope gives a special message for the occasion, which is sent to all foreign ministers around the world, and which also indicates the Holy See's diplomatic tone during the coming year.

Titled "Overcome Indifference and win Peace," the Pope's message for 2016 is a reiteration of what he has frequently advocated for since the beginning of his pontificate: taking one's eyes off oneself, and focusing on the needs of others.

In a world afflicted by "a real third world war fought piecemeal," the Pope expressed his desire to encourage people "not to lose hope in our human ability to conquer evil and to combat resignation and indifference."

He pointed to several initiatives over the past year which have brought world leaders together in an effort to overcome self-interest and apathy, such as the recently concluded COP21 summit on climate change in Paris, the Addis Ababa Summit on funding global sustainable development and the adoption of the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.

Also highlighted by the Pope were landmark anniversaries for the Church, such as the 50th anniversary of Second Vatican Council documents "Nostra Aetate" on dialogue with non-Christian religions, and the constitution "Gaudium et Spes" on the Church in the modern world.

Francis also pointed to the Jubilee of Mercy, which runs from Dec. 8, 2015-Nov. 20, 2016, expressing his hope that it will encourage people to "refuse to fall into a humiliating indifference or a monotonous routine which prevents us from discovering what is new!"

He spoke of the importance of fostering fraternity, saying we are responsible for those around us. Without solidarity, he said, "we would be less human."

Calling indifference "a menace to the human family," Francis noted that the attitude takes three forms: indifference to God, to our neighbor and to creation.

Indifference toward God, he noted, "transcends the purely private sphere and affects the public and social sphere."

"Disregard and the denial of God, which lead man to acknowledge no norm above himself and himself alone, have produced untold cruelty and violence," he said, while indifference toward one's neighbor is expressed in a general disinterest and a lack of engagement.

On an institutional level, indifference to the dignity, rights and freedom of others is part of a culture formed by "the pursuit of profit and hedonism," and can foster and even justify actions and policies which threaten peace, Pope Francis said.

Rather than ensuring that the basic rights and needs of others are preserved, economic and political projects frequently pursue power instead, he observed.

When people see their basic rights, such as food, water, health care and employment denied, "they are tempted to obtain them by force."

Francis stressed that indifference is ultimately overcome by personal conversion, and pointed to the example of Jesus, who took on flesh and showed solidarity with humanity.

Jesus shows us how to be invested in others, no matter how busy we may be, he said, cautioning that the attitude of indifference often seeks to excuse itself with tasks to complete or by "hiding behind hostilities and prejudices which keep us apart."

"Mercy is the heart of God," he said, explaining that how we love and care for others is "the yardstick" by which God will judge our lives.

He emphasized the importance of the Church in being a witness to God's mercy in both her language and her gestures, so that people would be inspired to return to God.

To build solidarity, the Pope said, is the responsibility of everyone, beginning with families and teachers. He also said those involved in the field of communication have a special role to play, adding that their role must "serve the truth, and not particular interests."

Communicators, particularly the media, must also "be mindful that the way in which information is obtained and made public should always be legally and morally admissible," he said.

The statement is a likely reference to the current trial underway for the "Vatileaks 2" scandal, in which two journalists have been accused of exerting "pressure" on former members of a Vatican commission to obtain confidential documents on Vatican finances, and then publish books on the information.

Francis concluded his message by acknowledging the many individuals and organizations, journalists and photographers included, who are committed caring for the poor, injured and sick, despite often dangerous conditions.

In particular, he offered thanks to all individuals, families, parishes, religious communities and monasteries who responded to his Sept. 6 appeal to welcome a family of refugees.

In the spirit of the Jubilee of Mercy, Pope Francis called on civil society to make "courageous gestures of concern" for the most vulnerable, particularly prisoners, migrants, the sick and the unemployed.

He specifically asked that the living conditions for prisoners be improved, and urged leaders to keep in mind that "penal sanctions have the aim of rehabilitation," whereas national laws "should consider the possibility of other establishing penalties than incarceration."

On this point, he urged government authorities to abolish the death penalty where it is still practiced, and "to consider the possibility of an amnesty."

The Pope asked that legislation for migrants "be reviewed" in order to reflect "a readiness to welcome migrants and to facilitate their integration" into society.

He also said special emphasis should be given to the conditions for the legal residency of migrants, "since having to live clandestinely can lead to criminal behavior."

Francis then asked that greater efforts be made in order to end unemployment, and for special attention be given to women, "who unfortunately still encounter discrimination in the workplace."

He closed his message with a threefold appeal to national leaders, beginning with a request for them "to refrain from drawing other peoples into conflicts or wars," which only lead to destruction.

The Pope then asked that leaders either forgive or find a way to sustainably manage the debt of poorer nations, and to "adopt policies of cooperation which, instead of bowing before the dictatorship of certain ideologies, will respect the values of local populations and... not prove detrimental to the fundamental and inalienable right to life of the unborn."

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VATICAN NEWS

**How does God show mercy to us? Through the Church, Pope says**

_by Ann Schneible (CNA/EWTN News)  • December 16, 2015_

Pope Francis at the general audience in St. Peter's Square on Dec. 16, 2015. (Daniel Ibañez/CNA)

**Vatican City** -- The Church is the "living sign" of God's love and mercy in the world, Pope Francis said during his Wednesday general audience. He reflected on the universality of communion as demonstrated by the global scale of the Jubilee of Mercy.

"May this ecclesial communion become more and more intense, because the Church is in the world the living sign of the love and mercy of the Father," the Pope said in his Dec. 16 catechesis.

This "mystery of communion," which is a sign of the "Father's love" for the Church, "grows and matures in our heart when love, which we recognize in Christ's Cross and in which we immerse ourselves, causes us to love as we ourselves are loved by Him."

"It is an endless Love, which has the face of forgiveness and mercy."

The Jubilee of Mercy is an Extraordinary Holy Year that officially commenced Dec. 8 - the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception - with the opening of the Holy Door in St. Peter's Basilica. It will close Nov. 20, 2016 with the Solemnity of Christ the King.

Although the Jubilee of Mercy officially began last week, Pope Francis opened the Holy Door in the Basilica of Saint John Lateran this past Sunday.

During his Wednesday catechesis, the Pope noted how every Holy Door - or "door of Mercy" has been opened in the cathedrals of every dioceses worldwide, as well as in individual churches and shrines by the respective bishops.

He reiterated his desire for the Holy Door to be available at the local level, "in order that the Jubilee of Mercy may become a shared experience for every person.

By extending the celebration of the Jubilee of Mercy to all dioceses - here the Pope cited especially his opening of the Holy Door in Bangui, Central African Republic during his visit November - the Holy Year becomes a "visible sign of universal communion."

The start of the Jubilee coincided with the 50th anniversary of the close of the Vatican II council, which - Pope Francis observed -- had drawn attention to the theme of communion within the Church.

"In effect, the Council contemplated and presented the Church in the light of the mystery of communion," the Pope said.

The pontiff said forgiveness and mercy are more than just nice words; they must be lived out in daily life.

"Loving and forgiving are concrete and visible signs that the faith has transformed our hearts," allowing us "to love and forgive as God loves and forgives."

During the Jubilee of Mercy, Pope Francis said, the Holy Door is a sign of faith in Jesus, who came who came to save, not to judge.

The pontiff warned against those who suggest that one must pay for salvation. "You do not buy salvation! The door is Jesus, and he is free! Salvation is free! It is a sign of true conversion in our hearts."

Those who walk through the open Holy Door should ask the Lord for help in keeping their hearts open, whereby they share the Lord's love with others, the Pope continued.

"Just as the Holy Door remains open, in order for it to be the sign of welcome which God Himself reserves for us, so too may our door always be wide open in order to exclude no one," including those we find annoying.

Pope Francis stressed the importance of the Sacrament of Confession as an important sign of the Jubilee of Mercy.

To receive the sacrament by which we are reconciled with God is to have direct experience of his mercy," the Pope said. "When we recognize our sins there is a celebration in Heaven!"

The pontiff reiterated that we cannot receive God's forgiveness if we ourselves are unable to forgive.

"Certainly, forgiveness is not easy," and cannot be accomplished on our strength alone. "If, however, we are open to welcoming God's mercy for us, we too will become capable of forgiveness."

"Therefore, have courage!" he said. "We live the Jubilee starting with these signs that involve the great strength of love."

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VATICAN NEWS

**Pope Francis meets with railroad workers -- and reminds them of God's mercy**

_by CNA/EWTN News  • December 19, 2015_

Pope Francis borrows a railroad worker's cap at a Dec. 19, 2015 gathering. (L'Osservatore Romano)

**Vatican City** -- Pope Francis on Saturday addressed rail workers, remembering the hard and sometimes deadly work that built the railways of Italy. He invited them all to embrace God's "medicine of mercy" in the Catholic Church's year of Mercy.

Speaking to about 7,000 rail workers in Vatican City's Paul VI Hall, the Pope remembered "the many people who have worked hard" to build the Italian State Railway rail network in its 110 years of existence.

"Not a few workers have also lost their lives in this labor," he said Dec. 19. "We remember them all - and let us make it so that - so far as it is in our power - such things do not happen anymore."

He praised the collaboration between Italian railways, local authorities and non-profit organizations that have created support centers to for people in need. These centers help keep Italy united geographically and as a society by preventing people from being left behind.

He also spoke about the Don Luigi Di Liegro homeless shelter and hostel, where he had celebrated Mass on Friday and opened a special Holy Door there for the Catholic Church's Jubilee Year of Mercy.

The Pope said the Year of Mercy is a reminder that mercy is "the first and most real medicine for humans." Mercy is "a medicine which everyone needs urgently."

While mercy from God is continuous and abundant, we must be able to show mercy to each other "so that everyone can live the fullness of his humanity."

Those who pass through the Holy Door with love will find "forgiveness and consolation," Pope Francis said. They will be motivated to give generously and to give of themselves, "for the salvation of their brothers." He encouraged people to take part in the Year of Mercy to help renew society and make it more just and united during a time that the Pope has characterized as a "piecemeal" World War III.

He encouraged Italy and all countries to become places of solidarity networks and to become "more authentically human" and more able to rejoice in the love of God.

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**Want to find God? Seek him in the most needy, Pope Francis says**

_by CNA/EWTN News  • December 19, 2015_

Pope Francis opens a Holy Door at a Rome homeless shelter on Dec. 18, 2015. (L'Osservatore Romano)

**Vatican City** -- Speaking at a Rome homeless shelter, Pope Francis has said the humility of Jesus Christ's birth shows that mankind can find God in poverty.

The Pope was at the shelter to open a special Holy Door for the homeless during the Year of Mercy.

"This is the door of the Lord," the Pope said Dec. 18 as he opened the Holy Door. "Open the gates of justice. For your great mercy will enter into your house, O Lord."

The Pope then paused in prayer and proceeded in to celebrate Mass at the homeless shelter in Rome's Termini - John Paul II train station. About 200 people were in the congregation, representing all the Caritas centers in Rome.

In his impromptu homily, the Pope stressed that Jesus was not born to a princess in a palace. Rather, he came in humility to a simple young girl who lived on the outskirts of the Roman Empire.

There is a lesson here on where to find God, Pope Francis said.

"If you want to find God, look him for humility, look for him in poverty. Seek him where he is hidden: in the most needy, the sick, the hungry, the imprisoned," he said, according to Vatican Radio.

"This is not luxury, this is not the way of great wealth, this is not is the way of power. This is the way of humility," he continued.

"Today we pray for Rome, for all the inhabitants of Rome, for everyone, starting with me, because the Lord give us the grace to feel ourselves rejected, because we do not have any merit: only he gives us mercy and grace," he said. "To get closer to that grace, we must approach the rejected, the poor, to those who need it most."

He also voiced his desire for a spiritual renewal at Christmas.

"This Christmas I wish that the Lord is born in the heart of each of us, hidden so that no one realizes," Pope Francis said.

The homeless shelter is named for the 20th century Italian priest Don Luigi di Liegro, who founded the Rome diocese's Caritas organization.

The Catholic Church's Jubilee Year of Mercy began Dec. 8. Pope Francis declared the event to help encourage acts of faith, charity, and mercy.

The Holy Doors of the Rome diocese are only opened during jubilee years so that pilgrims can enter through them in order to gain the plenary indulgence that is connected with the jubilee.

Four Holy Doors have been opened in the Rome diocese, including the homeless shelter's door. Pope Francis opened the Holy Doors at St. Peter's Basilica and the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran. American Cardinal James Harvey opened the Holy Door at St. Paul's Outside-the-Walls. On Jan. 1 Pope Francis will open the Holy Door at St. Mary Major Basilica.

The Pope has asked the Catholic bishops of the world to designate Holy Doors at churches in their dioceses.

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**Look for the presence of God in your life, Pope says on New Year 's**

_by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News)  • December 31, 2015_

Pope Francis presides over Vespers and exposition of the Blessed Sacrament in St. Peter's Basilica on Dec. 31, 2015. (Alexey Gotovsky/CNA)

**Vatican City** -- As this year comes to an end, Pope Francis has encouraged faithful to look back at the events of 2015, telling them to be attentive to both the presence of God, and the signs he is giving.

"Retracing the days of the past year can be done either as a memory of facts and events which bring moments of joy and sorrow, or by trying to understand if we have perceived the presence of God, who makes all things new and sustains them with his help," the Pope said on New Year's Eve, Dec. 31.

He gave a brief homily during his celebration of Vespers on the eve of the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God, and the start of the new year.

We are challenged, he said, to see if the world's events have been done according to God's will, or "if we have primarily harkened to the projects of men, which are often characterized by private interests, of unquenchable thirst for power and of senseless violence."

Francis also urged attendees to focus in a special way on the "the signs" that God has given us, saying they are a means of touching "with our own hands" the strength of his merciful love.

Many days of the past year, he noted, were marked by "violence, death, the unspeakable suffering of many innocent people, of refugees forced to leave their homeland (and) of men, women and children without a stable home, food or sustenance."

However, the Pope also pointed to the many acts of love and solidarity that were shown and which filled each day, "even if they didn't make the news!"

Such acts of love and goodness "cannot and must not be obscured by the arrogance of evil. Good always wins, even if in some moments it appears weak and hidden," he said.

In addition to the praying of Vespers, the celebrations were also marked by the chanting of the Te Deum, an ancient prayer of praise which grants the one who recites it publicly on New Year's Eve a plenary indulgence under the usual conditions. Francis also presided over exposition and benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.

In his reflections, Francis said that the Church often feels the joy and duty of praising God with the words of the hymn, which, through "the joy of thanksgiving," allows one to recognize the loving presence of God throughout history.

He also stressed the importance of community, saying that this individual prayer of praise and thanksgiving must also be "reinforced" by the company of the entire people of God, "who in unison make their song of thanksgiving heard."

Francis then pointed to the Jubilee of Mercy, which began Dec. 8, 2015, and closes Nov. 20, 2016.

The Holy Year, he said, provides the opportunity to overcome the difficulties of the present time, adding that the "companionship of mercy is a light to understand better how much we have lived, and is a hope that accompanies us at the beginning of the new year."

He closed his homily by noting how Rome is not immune to the present challenges of the world, and encouraged the city's inhabitants to go beyond the difficulties of the present moment and to recover the essential values of service, honesty and solidarity.

Following the celebration of Vespers and the benediction of the Eucharist, Pope Francis made a brief visit to the Nativity scene in St. Peter's Square.

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**Mercy is stronger than violence and injustice, Pope says**

_by Ann Schneible (CNA/EWTN News)  • January 1, 2016_

Pope Francis celebrates New Year's Day Mass in St. Peter's Basilica for the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God on Jan. 1, 2015. (Bohumil Petrik/CNA)

**Vatican City** -- The miseries of the world are powerless against the mercy of God, whose entrance into history brought about a new era for humanity, Pope Francis said at the opening Mass of the new year.

"History does not determine the birth of Christ; rather, his coming into the world enables history to attain its fullness," the Pope said in his homily Friday morning in Saint Peter's Basilica.

"For this reason, the birth of the Son of God inaugurates a new era, a new computation of time, the era which witnesses the fulfilment of the ancient promise."

Pope Francis delivered these remarks during Mass for the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, which is celebrated each year on Jan. 1.

In his homily, the Pope centered his reflection on the day's second reading from Saint Paul to the Galatians which speaks of God having been "born of a woman" in the "fullness of time."

Taking into account that moment in history, under the reign of the Roman emperor Augustus, the pontiff explained how Jesus' birth in the "fullness of time" should not be seen in a geopolitical context. Rather, it should be considered from God's fulfillment of his promise to humanity.

The fullness of time is God's presence in history, he said. "Now we can see his glory, which shines forth in the poverty of a stable; we can be encouraged and sustained by his Word, made 'little' in a baby. Thanks to him, our time can find its fullness."

However, Pope Francis noted how the mystery of God's entrance into history "clashes" with the human experience of injustice and violence against the weak and the innocent.

"How can the fullness of time have come when we are witnessing hordes of men, women and children fleeing war, hunger and persecution, ready to risk their lives simply to encounter respect for their fundamental rights?" the Pope asked.

Nonetheless, while this "torrent of misery, swollen by sin, seems to contradict the fullness of time brought by Christ," he said, these miseries are overcome by God's mercy.

"This swollen torrent is powerless before the ocean of mercy which floods our world," he said.

"All of us are called to immerse ourselves in this ocean, to let ourselves be reborn, to overcome the indifference which blocks solidarity, and to leave behind the false neutrality which prevents sharing."

"The grace of Christ, which brings our hope of salvation to fulfilment, leads us to cooperate with him in building an ever more just and fraternal world, a world in which every person and every creature can dwell in peace, in the harmony of God's original creation."

Pope Francis turned his reflection to Mary, saying how the Church invites the faithful at the opening of the new year to contemplate her "divine maternity as an icon of peace."

"In her, the ancient promise finds fulfilment," he said. "She believed in the words of the angel, conceived her Son and thus became the Mother of the Lord. Through her, through her 'yes', the fullness of time came about."

The Pope recalled the day's Gospel reading which recounts the shepherds visiting the newly-born Jesus, and observed how Mary "treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart" (Lk 2:19).

"She appears to us as a vessel filled to the brim with the memory of Jesus, as the Seat of Wisdom to whom we can have recourse to understand his teaching aright," he said.

"Today Mary makes it possible for us to grasp the meaning of events which affect us personally, events which also affect our families, our countries and the entire world."

"Where philosophical reason and political negotiation cannot reach, there the power of faith, which brings the grace of Christ's Gospel, can reach, opening ever new pathways to reason and to negotiation."

The Pope concluded by appealing to Mary, saying: "Send us your blessing on this day consecrated to your honour. Show us the face of Jesus your Son, who bestows upon the entire world mercy and peace."

Following the Mass, Pope Francis delivered his Angelus address to pilgrims in Saint Peter's Square, in which he reflected on the need to sustain real hope amid the "many problems of yesterday" which will still be present in the new year.

God is patient with us, and does not tire of helping us begin again each time we fall, the pontiff said.

However, God "does not use a magic wand" to change us, he observed. Rather, he seeks to bring about change "from within, with patience and love."

"He asks to enter into our lives gently, like rain in the earth, to bear fruit. And he is always there waiting and watching us with tenderness."

Pope Francis recalled how Jan. 1 is also the World Day of Peace, which this year has the theme: "Overcome indifference and win peace." He explained how we are not only called to cultivate peace, but to "conquer" it.

"This involves a real struggle, a spiritual battle that takes place in our hearts," the Pope said. "The enemy of peace is not only war, but also indifference, which makes us think only of ourselves and creates barriers, suspicions, fears, and closures."

The pontiff thanked God for the large amount of information available, but nonetheless noted how it can distract us from the needs of others.

Instead, he said we need to begin opening "our hearts, awakening attention to the next, to those who are closest. This is the way to win the peace."

Before leading the recitation of the Angelus prayer, the Pope called the faithful to entrust the new year to Mary, "in order that peace and mercy may grow."

After the Angelus, Pope Francis greeted the members of the various movements who were present.

Finally, referencing the day's first Mass reading, the Pope concluded by calling on the faithful to pray each morning for God to "shine his face" on us, and invited those in the square to repeat after him: "Today, the Lord makes his face to shine upon me."

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**Pope Francis: Mary is the 'mother of forgiveness'**

_by CNA/EWTN News  • January 1, 2016_

Pope Francis prays before a statue of Mary in St. Peter's Basilica. (Lauren Cater/CNA)

**Vatican City** -- Reflecting particularly on Mary's title as "mother of mercy," Pope Francis opened the Holy Door at the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome on Jan. 1.

"It is most fitting that on this day we invoke the Blessed Virgin Mary above all as 'mother of mercy.' The door we have opened is, in fact, a Door of Mercy," Pope Francis said. "Those who cross its threshold are called to enter into the merciful love of the Father with complete trust and freedom from fear; they can leave this Basilica knowing that Mary is ever at their side."

The Pope's remarks came on the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. As part of his celebration of the day, the pontiff opened the final holy door of the four major basilicas in Rome.

The other three major basilicas - St. Peter's, St John Lateran, and St. Paul "Outside the Wall" - have already had their holy doors opened during the early days of the Jubilee of Mercy, an Extraordinary Holy Year called for by Pope Francis that began Dec. 8 with the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception and will end on the Solemnity of Christ the King, Nov. 20, 2016.

Pilgrims who pass through the holy doors in Rome or in their own dioceses have the opportunity to gain a plenary indulgence, if they meet certain conditions.

As he opened the holy door at the Basilica of St. Mary Major, Pope Francis drew a connection between the Jubilee of Mercy and Mary, the mother of mercy.

"She is the Mother of mercy, because she bore in her womb the very Face of divine mercy, Jesus,... The Son of God, made incarnate for our salvation, has given us his Mother, who joins us on our pilgrimage through this life, so that we may never be left alone, especially at times of trouble and uncertainty."

The Pope reflected on the lines of an ancient hymn: "Hail Mother of mercy, Mother of God, Mother of forgiveness, Mother of hope, Mother of grace and Mother full of holy gladness."

"In these few words, we find a summary of the faith of generations of men and women who, with their eyes fixed firmly on the icon of the Blessed Virgin, have sought her intercession and consolation," he said.

While the idea of "forgiveness" is misunderstood in the modern world, it is critical in the Christian faith, Pope Francis said.

"A person unable to forgive has not yet known the fullness of love. Only one who truly loves is able to forgive and forget," he said, adding that at the foot of the Cross, Mary becomes for all people the mother of forgiveness, as she follows in the example of her Son who forgives those who are killing him.

"For us, Mary is an icon of how the Church must offer forgiveness to those who seek it," Pope Francis continued.

"The Mother of forgiveness teaches the Church that the forgiveness granted on Golgotha knows no limits. Neither the law with its quibbles, nor the wisdom of this world with its distinctions, can hold it back. The Church's forgiveness must be every bit as broad as that offered by Jesus on the Cross and by Mary at his feet. There is no other way."

He also noted that Mary offers us the three-fold gift of her son: hope, grace and holy gladness.

"The gift that Mary bestows in offering us Jesus is the forgiveness which renews life, enables us once more to do God's will and fills us with true happiness," he said. "This grace frees the heart to look to the future with the joy born of hope."

The pontiff emphasized the importance of forgiveness as "the true antidote to the sadness caused by resentment and vengeance." Forgiveness brings peace and serenity by freeing the heart from resentment, he explained.

"Let us, then, pass through the Holy Door of Mercy knowing that at our side is the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Holy Mother of God, who intercedes for us," Pope Francis said.

"Let us allow her to lead us to the rediscovery of the beauty of an encounter with her Son Jesus. Let us open wide the doors of our heart to the joy of forgiveness, conscious that we have been given new confidence and hope, and thus make our daily lives a humble instrument of God's love."

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**Pope prays first Angelus of 2016 calling for vigilance against evil**

_by CNA/EWTN News  • January 3, 2016_

Pope Francis speaks to the crowd gathered in St. Peter's Square on June 15, 2015 before the Angelus. (L'Osservatore Romano)

**Vatican City** -- Pope Francis lead the first Marian prayer of the new year with swarms of pilgrims gathered at the Vatican Sunday, urging an openness to Jesus in our hearts so that evil won't prevail in our lives.

Speaking to a packed St. Peter's Square Jan. 3, the Pope reflected on the day's reading from the first chapter of St. John's Gospel where "the Word" was "made flesh and dwelt among us."

But despite the reality of Christ's presence on earth, St. John "does not hide the dramatic nature of the Incarnation of the Son of God" - since the "gift of the love of God is matched with the non-reception on the part of men," the Pope said.

"The Word is the light, and yet men have preferred the darkness; the Word came unto His own, but they did not receive Him; they closed the door in the face of the Son of God," Pope Francis said.

"It is the mystery of evil that insinuates (itself) into our lives, too, and that demands vigilance and care on our part so that it will not prevail."

Pope Francis then quoted the book of Genesis, warning that evil "lies in wait at our door."

"Woe to us if we allow it to enter; it would then close our door to anyone else. Instead we are called to throw open the door of our heart to the Word of God, to Jesus, in order thus to become His children."

"If we welcome Him, if we welcome Jesus, we will grow in understanding and in the love of the Lord, we will learn to be merciful as He is," the Pope said.

"Especially in this Holy Year of Mercy, let us make sure that the Gospel becomes ever more incarnate in our own lives too."

And how do we make sure of this? "Drawing near to the Gospel, meditating on it and incarnating it in daily life is the best way to understand Jesus and bring Him to others," he reflected.

"This is the vocation and the joy of every baptized person: showing Jesus and giving Him to others; but to do that we have to know Him and have Him within us, as the Lord of our life," the Pope said.

"And He will defend us from evil, from the devil. He is always lying in wait by our door, and wants to enter."

Pope Francis concluded his remarks before praying the Angelus with the crowds by saying: "let us entrust ourselves once again to Mary: Let us contemplate the sweet image of the mother of Jesus and our mother in these days of the manger."

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**Missionaries of Mercy to be sent out under the gaze of Padre Pio**

_by Ann Schneible (CNA/EWTN News)  • January 6, 2016_

St. Pio of Pietrelcina. (CNA)

**Vatican City** -- The body of Padre Pio will be on display for veneration at next month's Ash Wednesday Mass in the Vatican, where a group of priests will be sent out as "Missionaries of Mercy" for the Jubilee Year.

Pope Francis "has expressed his keen desire" for the relics of the Capuchin saint to be exposed during the Feb. 10 Mass in St. Peter's Basilica, said Archbishop Rino Fisichella, president of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization.

In a letter Archbishop Michele Castoro of Manfredonia-Vieste-San Giovanni Rotondo, Archbishop Fisichella explained that this year's Ash Wednesday is the day on which the Pope "will send the Missionaries of Mercy throughout the world, conferring on them the special mandate of preaching and hearing confessions, as a living sign of how the Father welcomes all those who seek his forgiveness."

"The presence of St. Pio's remains," he said, "will be a precious sign for all missionaries and priests, who will find strength for their own mission in the wondrous example of this untiring, welcoming and patient confessor, an authentic witness of the Father's mercy."

These Missionaries of Mercy are priests who, during the Jubilee of Mercy, will be given the faculties to pardon sins in cases otherwise reserved to the Holy See.

St. Pio of Pietrelcina, colloquially known as "Padre Pio," was a priest of the Order of the Friars Minor Capuchin, a stigmatist, and a mystic, who lived from 1887-1968. He was beatified in 1999, and canonized in 2002 by St. John Paul II. He was born in Pietrelcina, but ministered in San Giovanni Rotondo from 1916 until his death.

February's exposition of Padre Pio's remains at the Vatican is part of the relics' tour for the Year of Mercy, which will include stops in Rome and Pietrelcina, according to newly released information.

Italian media reports that Padre Pio's relics, which reside in the shrine at San Giovanni Rotondo, will arrive Feb. 3 at Rome's Basilica of Saint Lawrence Outside the Walls, where it will remain through Feb. 4, under the care of the Capuchins.

On Feb. 5, the relics will be carried in procession from Saint Lawrence to St. Peter's Basilica, where they will remain until Feb. 11. Various events will be held during this period, including a papal audience Feb. 6 with members of "Padre Pio prayer groups," workers at the Home to Relieve Suffering - founded by St. Pio in 1956 - and faithful from the Manfredonia-Vieste-San Giovanni Rotondo archdiocese.

On Feb. 9, Pope Francis will preside over Mass with Capuchin brothers, Padre Pio's own order, from around the world.

After Mass Feb. 11 for the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes presided over by Archbishop Fisichella, St. Pio's relics will be taken for three days to Pietrelcina.

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**Pope: Humanity seeks God, and the Magi show us where to find him**

_by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News)  • January 6, 2016_

Pope Francis celebrates New Year's Day Mass for the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God on Jan. 1, 2015. (Bohumil Petrik/CNA)

**Vatican City** -- In a restless age when humanity fails to find the answer to its continuous searching, the Magi who go out looking for Christ only to find him in a humble stable in Bethlehem are a key example of where to turn, Pope Francis said.

"Like the Magi, countless people, in our own day, have a restless heart which continues to seek without finding sure answers," the Pope said in his Jan. 6 homily for the Feast of the Epiphany. "They too are looking for a star to show them the path to Bethlehem."

However, out of the many stars in the sky, the Magi "followed a new and different star, which for them shone all the more brightly."

After gazing at and reading the stars for centuries, the Magi had finally found the light they were looking for, Francis said, noting that the star "changed them. It made them leave their daily concerns behind and set out immediately on a journey."

"They listened to a voice deep within, which led them to follow that light. The star guided them, until they found the King of the Jews in a humble dwelling in Bethlehem."

He said that the Magi, often referred to as the "Three Wise Men" or the "Three Kings" who brought Jesus gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, are "a living witness" to the fact that seeds of the truth can be found everywhere.

These Magi represent every man and woman throughout the world who are welcomed into God's house, the Pope said, noting that before Jesus, "all divisions of race, language and culture disappear: in that Child, all humanity discovers its unity."

The Church, then, "has the task of seeing and showing ever more clearly the desire for God which is present in the heart of every man and woman," Francis continued. "This is the service of the Church: with the light, to reflect and to show the desire for God that each person carries inside of themselves."

Pointing the day's first reading from Isaiah when the prophet tells Israel "Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you," the Pope said that these words are a commission "to go forth, to leave behind all that keeps us self-enclosed, to go out from ourselves and to recognize the splendor of the light which illumines our lives."

Francis explained that the light Isaiah is referring to "is the glory of the Lord," and cautioned that the Church "cannot illude herself into thinking that she shines with her own light... Christ is the true light shining in the darkness."

"To the extent that the Church remains anchored in him, to the extent that she lets herself be illumined by him, she is able to bring light into the lives of individuals and peoples," the Pope said.

He noted that this light is necessary if the Church is to fulfill her vocation of proclaiming the Gospel throughout the world.

For the Church, being a missionary "does not mean to proselytize," but rather "to give expression to her very nature, which is to receive God's light and then to reflect it."

"This is her service. There is no other way. Mission is her vocation; to reflect the light of God and to serve," he affirmed.

Pope Francis then encouraged attendees to ask themselves the same question as the Magi in the Gospel: "Where is the child who has been born the King of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage."

He highlighted the importance, particularly in our age, of seeking the signs God is giving and of realizing the great effort that is needed to interpret these signs and therefore understand the will of God.

We are challenged, he said, "to go to Bethlehem, to find the Child and his Mother. Let us follow the light which God offers us!"

Once we have found the Lord, "let us worship him with all our heart, and present him with our gifts: our freedom, our understanding and our love. Let us recognize that true wisdom lies concealed in the face of this Child."

Francis closed his homily by emphasizing that the entire life of the Church is summed up in the "simplicity" of Bethlehem.

It is there, he said, where we find "the wellspring of that light which draws to itself every individual and guides the journey of the peoples along the path of peace."

After Mass Pope Francis led pilgrims in praying the traditional Angelus prayer, telling them that the experience of the Magi "impels us not to accept mediocrity, not to 'just get along,' but to search for the meaning of things, to passionately scrutinize the great mystery of life."

"They teach us not to be scandalized by littleness and poverty, but to recognize the majesty of humility and to know how to kneel before it."

Once he concluded the prayer, Francis extended his greeting to Eastern Christians, Catholic and Orthodox, many of whom celebrate Christmas on Jan. 7, the day after the Epiphany.

He then noted that Jan. 6 coincides the World Day of Missionary Childhood, saying the day celebrates children, "who with their prayer and sacrifice, help their most needy peers to become missionaries and witnesses of fraternity and coexistence."

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**Rome prepares for Holy Year of Mercy - with ice cream**

_by Marta Jimenez (CNA/EWTN News)  • May 7, 2015_

Hedera Ice cream made for the Jubilee of Mercy. (Bohumil Petrik/CNA)

**Rome, Italy** -- Pilgrims and tourists strolling down the streets of Rome in the coming months may come across an unexpected treat - a special "Jubilee of Mercy Ice Cream," created in honor of the upcoming Holy Year.

Pope Francis has proclaimed the special Holy Year of Mercy, which is to last from Dec. 8, 2015, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, to Nov. 20, 2016, the Solemnity of Christ the King.

The special Jubilee ice cream can be sampled at the Hedera ice cream shop, situated on the legendary Borgo Pio, one of the streets most traveled by Rome's tourists.

Hedera stands out from among the other restaurants and souvenir shops because of the sprawling ivy vines that completely cover the building and the adjacent old drinking fountain with a papal crest that slakes the thirst of passersby.

The sweet treat created for the Jubilee features the colors of the Vatican flag - yellow and white. It is made of milk, cream and limoncello, a lemon liqueur popular in Italy.

"We have tradition and innovation in our DNA. The idea came to us thinking about a product inspired by the Jubilee, something very significant," said business owner Francesco Ceravolo.

"We didn't want to make a product just to advertise, but an excellent product. We used the best milk available in the area, the best cream and limoncello, he explained, adding, "We lowered the alcohol in it so everyone could have it: children, adults, the elderly."

Ceravolo is a big admirer of Pope Francis and a descendant of master ice cream makers. He said that the idea was to create a unique flavor that would represent penance. The lemon liqueur was therefore chosen to symbolize purification.

Hedera prides itself on high-quality products, all sourced from Italy and without preservatives.

The "Jubilee ice cream" is just one example of how the people of Rome are preparing to welcome the thousands of pilgrims that will visit the city for the Jubilee of Mercy that the Pope has declared.

Mercy is a theme that is dear to Pope Francis, and is the central topic of his episcopal motto "miserando atque eligendo," which he chose when ordained a bishop in 1992.

In speaking about the upcoming Holy Year of Mercy, the Pope has emphasized that mercy is inseparable from the life and mission of the Church, as well as the role of the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

Upon making the public proclamation of the Holy Year, Pope Francis explained that he had declared this Jubilee of mercy because we are living at a "time of great historical change" which calls the Church "to offer more evident signs of God's presence and closeness."

This period in history is a time where the faithful "need to be vigilant and to reawaken in ourselves the capacity to see what is essential," he said.

"This is the time for mercy."

The aim of Jubilee Year of Mercy is to encourage the faithful to "welcome the numerous signs of the tenderness which God offers to the whole world," the Pope stressed.

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**In Chile, massive Marian pilgrimage to open Year of Mercy**

_by Barbara Bustamante (CNA/EWTN News)  • December 4, 2015_

Our Immaculate Lady of Lo Vasquez. (Philippus011012 via Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0)

**Santiago, Chile** -- Hundreds of thousands in Chile will visit the Lo Vasquez Shrine this coming December 8 on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, taking part in one of the most well-attended pilgrimages in the country.

Our Immaculate Lady of Lo Vasquez, known in Spanish as "Nuestra Señora Purisima," is a devotion that dates back to 1850 in Valparaiso, Chile. On Dec. 7 and 8 the shrine draws almost 1 million faithful to central Chile. People come from different parts of the country in a pilgrimage that will conclude Chile's month of Mary.

This year the pilgrimage will have a special focus: the opening of the Holy Door of the Jubilee Year of Mercy. The special year, declared by Pope Francis, is intended to encourage acts of faith, charity and brotherly communion. Specially designated Holy Doors at churches around the world are connected to plenary indulgences for pilgrims during the church year.

Already since Sunday Nov. 29, the Lo Vasquez Shrine has begun to prepare for Feast of the Immaculate Virgin with the start of the novena in honor of the Immaculate Conception of Mary.

The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception recognizes that God chose the Virgin Mary to be conceived without sin. It was proclaimed on Dec. 8, 1854 by Pope Pius IX in his papal bull "Ineffabilis Deus," formalizing the long-held Catholic belief.

This year's pilgrimage events are based on the theme "Mother of Life, Mother of Mercy."

On Nov. 29 the pilgrimage's traditional religious dance festival took place. In this festival, the faithful renew their promises to the Mother of God alongside dancers and musicians.

The chaplain at the Shrine of the Immaculate Virgin of Lo Vasquez, Father Marcelino Toro, explained the event to CNA.

He said the pilgrimage is "primarily an encounter with someone you love."

"And from that encounter one feels complete contentment, happy to have done something good. This full encounter is with Mary, the Mother who shows us Jesus as the only way, truth and life," Fr. Toro added.

The priest discussed the renewal encouraged by the Year of Mercy, saying "it has to do with the humble, little heart that's in need. Consequently, the beginning of the Year of Mercy starts out with this feast of Mary, who lived out mercy in the humility of her heart."

One of the main activities of this festival is the Mass celebrated by the Bishop of Valparaiso, Gonzalo Duarte. He will open the Holy Door of the Shrine of the Immaculate Virgin and lead the solemn procession with the statue of the Virgin.

The pilgrims who come to the shrine will also be able to go to confession all day long and attend one of many Masses which will start on the hour from midnight to 7 p.m. on Dec. 8.

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**How can we live the Year of Mercy? Suggestions from Southern Africa 's bishops**

_by CNA/EWTN News  • December 12, 2015_

Papal Mass at the Catholic Sanctuary of Martyrs in Namugongo, Uganda, Nov. 28, 2015. (Martha Calderon/CNA)

**Bethlehem, South Africa** -- The Jubilee Year of Mercy is a time to reach out to others as "missionaries of God's mercy," the Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference said on Tuesday.

They cited Pope Francis' words from his proclamation of the Year of Mercy: "Jesus Christ is the face of the Father's mercy."

"It is this mercy which has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit," the bishops said in a Dec. 8 pastoral letter. "Just as God is merciful, so we are called to be merciful to each other."

The bishops' conference includes the bishops of Botswana, South Africa and Swaziland. Their pastoral letter on the Jubilee Year of Mercy was authored by Bishop Jan de Groef of Bethlehem.

The letter encouraged Catholics to make the sacrament of Confession central to the Year of Mercy. They should celebrate confession, not only undergo it. Confession is "a joyful encounter with the Lord, full of mercy and compassion," they said, adding that it should be celebrated "regularly throughout the year."

The bishops encouraged all Catholics to become "missionaries of God's mercy." They asked that the period be "a time of renewal for all of us," marked by outreach especially to non-practicing Catholics.

The bishops encouraged Catholics in their personal prayer, Bible studies, and other meetings to choose for reflection a parable that speaks about God's mercy, like those of Luke chapter 15.

"Being filled with the love and mercy of God, we shall be stimulated to reach out to others in corporal and spiritual works of mercy," the bishops said. "Pope Francis invites us to 'rediscover these corporal works of mercy: to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, welcome the stranger, heal the sick, visit the imprisoned and bury the dead'."

"He urges us 'not to forget the spiritual works of mercy: to counsel the doubtful, instruct the ignorant, admonish sinners, comfort the afflicted, forgive offences, bear patiently those who do us ill, and pray for the living and the dead'."

The Jubilee of Mercy is an Extraordinary Holy Year that began Dec. 8, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, when Pope Francis opened the Holy Door in St. Peter's Basilica. The door will close Nov. 20, 2016 with the Solemnity of Christ the King.

Those who pass through a designated Holy Door can obtain a plenary indulgence if they are properly disposed, have gone to confession, receive the Eucharist, and pray for the intentions of the Pope.

The Pope has also encouraged all bishops to name a Holy Door at a popular church or shrine in their diocese. Bishop de Groef announced that the Holy Door for the Bethlehem diocese would be found at the Marian shrine of Tsheseng, a village in the Free State province more than 50 miles southeast of Bethlehem.

Pope Francis opened the Holy Door in the cathedral of Bangui, the Central African Republic's capital, during his late November visit to Africa.

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**Pope Francis has called for a Holy Year of Mercy - so what does that mean?**

_by Matthew Hadro (CNA/EWTN News)  • March 18, 2015_

General audience with Pope Francis on March 18, 2015. (Daniel Ibanez/CNA)

**Washington, D.C.** -- The Pope's surprise announcement of a holy year for mercy has Catholics weighing in on the significance of the move, which some say can be boiled down to this: Francis wants us to know how much God loves us.

The Fathers of Mercy, a priestly order based in Kentucky, said they were thrilled when news of the jubilee broke last week. A self-described "itinerant missionary preaching order of priests," they conduct parish missions focused on conversion through the sacraments of Mass and Confession.

"We see first-hand the reality and beauty of conversion - God's mercy at work," member Father Wade told CNA.

During a penitential service at St. Peter's Basilica March 12, Pope Francis announced the extraordinary jubilee Year of Mercy, which will begin later this year on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, Dec. 8. It will end on the Solemnity of Christ the King, Nov. 20, 2016.

The scriptural focus for the jubilee year will be Christ's command from Luke 6:36, "Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful."

"It's a journey that starts with a spiritual conversion," Pope Francis said at the announcement.

But what is mercy, and how is it concretely practiced?

"Mercy is who God is. It is love's second name," Fr. Menezes said. And conversion is its "most concrete expression," he added, quoting St. John Paul II's 1980 papal encyclical "Dives in Misericordia," or "Rich in Mercy."

"God is more interested in our future than in our past," he explained. God takes past sin "seriously" but never "as the last word," because He "wants each one of us to become the 'best version' of our self that He wills for each one of us, personally, in His divine and eternal mind, and this requires conversion."

This is exactly what Pope Francis has in mind in announcing the Year of Mercy, said Kathryn Jean Lopez, founding director of Catholic Voices USA.

"In our busy, buzzing, often bifurcated lives, we often don't find the time for the silence of examination of conscience. This Holy Father is a Jesuit spiritual director to the world, urging us to see just how much God loves us, reorienting our hearts to His," she told CNA.

Rather than proposing something radically new, Pope Francis is continuing the devotion to mercy of his predecessors St. John Paul II and Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, noted Lopez.

"Pope John Paul II loved Divine Mercy so, Pope Benedict would call him the apostle of Divine Mercy. Benedict would also say that Divine Mercy is the name of God himself," she said.

This unbroken line is also proven in the encyclical Dives in Misericordia, where John Paul II wrote that "the Church - professing mercy and remaining always faithful to it - has the right and the duty to call upon the mercy of God," Fr. Menezes said.

What's more, though, mercy is also practiced through concrete acts of charity. The Church lists seven "corporal" and "spiritual" "works of mercy" which must be performed by the faithful.

"Catholics do the work of education, hospice care, caring for the sick, feeding the hungry, visiting the imprisoned, looking after the lonely. This is the encounter Pope Francis talks about," Lopez said listing the corporal works of mercy.

The seven spiritual works of mercy are to admonish the sinner, instruct the ignorant, counsel the doubtful, comfort the sorrowful, bear wrongs patiently, forgive all injuries, and pray for the living and dead.

"A message of mercy brings people in the door to freely encounter the heart of Christ in the sacramental life of the Church," Lopez added.

According to the Vatican's website, the jubilee year has its roots in the Monastic law when every fiftieth year was made holy for the Jewish people. Debts were canceled, slaves were freed, and lands were restored to their "original owners."

Ordinary jubilees occur every 25 or 50 years, and extraordinary jubilees are called for some momentous occasion. Two extraordinary jubilees were called in the 20th century - 1933, to mark the 1900th anniversary of Christ's redemption in 33 A.D., and 1983, its 1950th anniversary.

The jubilee year is a "holy year" marked by acts of faith, charity, and "brotherly communion," the Vatican's website adds.

"I am convinced that the whole Church will find in this Jubilee the joy needed to rediscover and make fruitful the mercy of God, with which all of us are called to give consolation to every man and woman of our time," Pope Francis said after announcing the jubilee year.

"From this moment, we entrust this Holy Year to the Mother of Mercy, that she might turn her gaze upon us and watch over our journey," he said. The jubilee year will begin on a Marian feast day, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception.

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U.S. NEWS

**What is mercy - and what are some false conceptions of it?**

_by Matt Hadro (CNA/EWTN News)  • December 9, 2015_

(Suzanne Tucker via shutterstock.com)

**Washington, D.C.** -- Is it simply having pity for someone or bending the rules? As the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy kicks off, Catholic theologians weigh in on mercy, and its surprising connection to justice.

True mercy is action, "reaching out to and accompanying people where they're at, even in their state of brokenness... in order to bring new life," Dr. William Mattison, a moral theology professor at the Catholic University of America, said in an interview with CNA.

This "brokenness" could be a spiritual state like sinfulness or a physical or emotional sickness, he clarified.

"The fundamental stance of God towards humanity is mercy," he said. "We alienated ourselves from God, communally and individually in sin," he acknowledged, but "God doesn't just feel bad for us, He sends the Son. Christ doesn't just feel bad for people, He heals people and invites them."

Pope Francis began the Extraordinary Holy Year of Mercy by opening the Holy Door at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome on the morning of Dec. 8, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. The Holy Door is only opened for a jubilee year - once every 25 years with the last one being in the year 2000 - or in this case, for an extraordinary jubilee.

Pilgrims who pass through the Holy Door may receive a plenary indulgence under the usual conditions; the Holy Father has also asked all bishops to designate a Holy Door in their dioceses, normally at the cathedral, so pilgrims could celebrate the jubilee everywhere.

"To pass through the Holy Door means to rediscover the infinite mercy of the Father who welcomes everyone and goes out personally to encounter each of them. This will be a year in which we grow ever more convinced of God's mercy," he preached at mass on Dec. 8 just before the opening of the Holy Door.

A pilgrimage to a Holy Door is actually a "very concrete" act of participation in God's mercy and is at the "heart" of the Year of Mercy, said Dr. Chad Pecknold, a theology professor at Catholic University of America.

The tradition goes back centuries to the time when churches and cathedrals were physical sanctuaries for innocent people fleeing violence and war, he explained.

"This is just the eternal spiritual extension of that idea, it seems to me," he said, that the cathedrals and shrines are both physical and spiritual sanctuaries for pilgrims. "The fundamental theme is return... return to the cathedrals."

Holy Doors become "doorways into holiness" for those who fulfill all the requirements for a plenary indulgence - which include an examination of conscience, an honest assessment of sins, a contrite heart, and prayers.

All this makes for an "arduous" spiritual pilgrimage, however short a pilgrim's journey may be to a Holy Door, Pecknold said. True repentance and a commitment to changing one's life are required. Thus the pilgrimage "isn't just a kind of tourist attraction."

The Sacrament of Penance will also be a key focus of the Year of Mercy. In his Sept. 1 papal letter on the coming jubilee year, Pope Francis wrote that "it is important" that the pilgrimages to the Holy Door "be linked, first and foremost, to the Sacrament of Reconciliation and to the celebration of the Holy Eucharist with a reflection on mercy."

Mercy has been central to Francis' pontificate, Dr. Mattison noted. It has been "the number one theme in his audiences and public comments for the last number of years," he said. Even Pope Francis' metaphors of the Church as a "mother" and a "field hospital" for sinners are images of mercy, he explained.

However, contrary to what some may think about mercy being an "abdication of justice," God's mercy and justice share the same end - bringing about "right relationship" - he explained.

"If my kid is obstinately avoiding treating his mother respectfully, there's a time for mercy, but there's also a time to recognize that things are what they are and they need to be punished," he said.

"The goal of punishment is not an end in itself. The goal of punishment is to correct the will of the sinner to be restored into right relationship."

However, if someone is already repentant, "mercy is appropriate" because "the goal has been achieved" of bringing about the right relationship, he added.

Everyone can actively participate in God's mercy though the Sacrament of Confession and the corporal and spiritual works of mercy, he explained.

"If you want to be part of that (salvation) story, your role in that story is to participate in it, to recognize your own brokenness and need for God's mercy, and also to reach out mercifully to others," he said. This is found in the Gospel when Jesus teaches the apostles to pray the "Our Father" (Mt. 6: 9-15), he noted.

"We're praying that God mercifully treat us like we mercifully treat others," Dr. Mattison said. "And that's the only petition of the Lord's Prayer that actually gets repeated."

Many think of mercy as practiced toward the most destitute. This is true, Dr. Mattison said, but it is most commonly practiced towards those whom one interacts with daily - family, friends, and colleagues.

"The most common occasions for loving your enemy are not ISIS," he said, but when family members or coworkers anger us and frustrate us.

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**Pope Francis and true mercy**

_by Bishop Robert Barron  • October 14, 2015_

Having just returned from a week covering Pope Francis's triumphant journey to the United States, I can confidently tell you that the news media are in love with the Vicar of Christ. Time and again, commentators, pundits, anchorpersons, and editorialists opined that Pope Francis is the bomb. They approved, of course, of his gentle way with those suffering from disabilities and his proclivity to kiss babies, but their approbation was most often awakened by this Pope's "merciful" and "inclusive" approach, his willingness to reach out to those on the margins. More often than not, they characterized this tenderness as a welcome contrast to the more rigid and dogmatic style of Benedict XVI. Often, I heard words such as "revolutionary" and "game-changing" in regard to Pope Francis, and one commentator sighed that she couldn't imagine going back to the Church as it was before the current pontiff.

Well, I love Pope Francis too, and I certainly appreciate the novelty of his approach and his deft manner of breathing life into the Church. In fact, a number of times on the air I commented that the Pope's arrival to our shores represented a new springtime after the long winter of the sex abuse scandals. But I balk at the suggestion that the new Pope represents a revolution or that he is dramatically turning away from the example of his immediate predecessors. And I strenuously deny that he is nothing but a soft-hearted powder-puff, indifferent to sin.

A good deal of the confusion stems from a misinterpretation of Francis's stress on mercy. In order to clear things up, a little theologizing is in order. It is not correct to say that God's essential attribute is mercy. Rather, God's essential attribute is love, since love is what obtains among the three divine persons from all eternity. Mercy is what love looks like when it turns toward the sinner. To say that mercy belongs to the very nature of God, therefore, would be to imply that sin exists within God himself, which is absurd.

Now this is important, for many receive the message of divine mercy as tantamount to a denial of the reality of sin, as though sin no longer matters. But just the contrary is the case. To speak of mercy is to be intensely aware of sin and its peculiar form of destructiveness. Or to shift to one of the Pope's favorite metaphors, it is to be acutely conscious that one is wounded so severely that one requires, not minor treatment, but the emergency and radical attention provided in a hospital on the edge of a battlefield. Recall that when Francis was asked, in a famous interview two years ago, to describe himself, he responded, "a sinner." Then he added, "who has been looked upon by the face of mercy." That's getting the relationship right. Remember as well that the teenaged Jorge Mario Bergoglio came to a deep and life-changing relationship to Christ precisely through a particularly intense experience in the confessional. As many have indicated, Papa Francesco speaks of the devil more frequently than any of his predecessors of recent memory, and he doesn't reduce the dark power to a vague abstraction or a harmless symbol. He understands Satan to be a real and very dangerous person.

When Pope Francis speaks of those on the margins, he does indeed mean people who are economically and politically disadvantaged, but he also means people who are cut off from the divine life, spiritually poor. And just as he reaches out to the materially marginalized in order to bring them to the center, so he reaches out to those on the existential periphery in order to bring them to a better place. In speaking of mercy and inclusivity, he is decidedly not declaring that "I'm okay and you're okay." He is calling people to conversion. As my mentor, Cardinal Francis George, said, "All are welcome in the Church, but on Christ's terms and not their own."

Nowhere has the confusion on this score been greater than in relation to the Pope's famous remark regarding a priest with a homosexual orientation, "Who am I to judge?" I would wager that 95% of those who took in those words understood them to mean that, as far as Pope Francis is concerned, homosexual activity is not really sinful. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Pope was responding to a hypothetical involving a priest with same sex attraction, who had fallen in the past and who is now endeavoring to live in accord with the moral law, a sinner, in a word, who has been looked upon by the face of mercy.

So as we quite legitimately exult in the beauty of Pope Francis's unique style and theological emphasis, let us not turn him into an advocate of an "anything goes" liberalism. As St. Augustine long ago reminded us, _misericordia_ (mercy) and _miseria_ (misery) are two sides of the same coin.

_Bishop Robert Barron is an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and the founder of Word on Fire Catholic Ministries (wordonfire.org). He is the creator of two award-winning documentary series, Catholicism and Catholicism: The New Evangelization._

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**' The Hateful Eight' and 'Sisters' - One brutally impressive and one brutally unfunny**

_by Carl Kozlowski  • December 26, 2015_

Christmas movies are like a pile of presents under the tree: there's hopefully something for everyone. This season is no exception, with an eclectic array of films for seemingly every taste, and then of course the "Star Wars" movie, which is making so much money one might think Congress made viewing it a requirement for citizenship.

This week, we're looking at two movies that couldn't be any more different: Quentin Tarantino's latest bizarro epic, "The Hateful Eight," and the Tina Fey-Amy Poehler comedy "Sisters." One is one of the year's most brutal yet impressive films, while the other is just brutally unfunny.

Feel free to read on, but I highly recommend seeing "Joy" or "The Big Short" instead - two movies I haven't had the chance to see, but which have extensive awards buzz.

"Hateful" is Tarantino's second Western in a row, following 2012's superb and superior "Django Unchained," which rode a powderkeg mix of racial tensions, ace performances and crackerjack action all the way to huge box office, a Best Picture nomination and a Best Screenplay Oscar. That movie was wildly original in every frame, but "The Hateful Eight" doesn't have that fresh sense of unpredictability.

Rather, "Hateful" plays like a combination of "Django" and Tarantino's debut film, "Reservoir Dogs." Both are great films and "Hateful" is also entertaining, but there's definitely a sense of " been there, done that" in much of it. Tarantino's creative muse, Samuel L. Jackson, is back as Major Marquis Warren, who claims his military title from fighting against the Confederates in the Civil War and also claims that he has a letter of support from President Lincoln himself.

Warren is trapped in the middle of nowhere with a blizzard approaching, when he encounters a stagecoach with two passengers: a self-proclaimed bounty hunter named John Ruth (Kurt Russell in his coolest role in years), and his latest capture, a hard-as-nails woman with a black eye and bloody mouth named Daisy Domergue (Jennifer Jason Leigh). Soon, they pick up yet another passenger: a man named Chris Mannix (Walton Goggins), who claims that he's the newly elected sheriff in the town that Ruth is bringing Domergue to for his reward.

The four pull up for the night at a remote store and boarding house called Minnie's Haberdashery, only to find that Ruth's old friend Minnie is mysteriously missing, with four other men (Bruce Dern, Michael Madsen, Tim Roth and Demian Bichir) as the only occupants. As they settle in for a long night huddled against the elements, it becomes clear that no one in the store has friendly intentions for anyone else, and that everyone has a hidden agenda.

You truly don't want to know more than that. While "Hateful" does copy the "Reservoir Dogs" setup of putting a bunch of dangerous and untrustworthy thugs into a confined area and watching them turn on each other, Tarantino is still utterly incapable of writing a bad screenplay. There are surprises throughout, although if there is one big complaint to make, the film is nearly three hours long and takes nearly half that time for the first gunshot to be fired.

The second half is much more action-packed, but it's also hard to watch at times. Tarantino's largest budget expense appears to have been the buckets of blood involved from shootings, stabbings and worst of all, the vomiting that occurs after two of the men drink poisoned coffee.

Tarantino also is likely to rile some viewers with another problematic aspect: his characters' copious use of the N-word towards, against and about Warren. But taken in the context of its setting - a bunch of tough white men being outwitted by a black man shortly after the Civil War - and the fact that Jackson always defends Tarantino completely for his uses of that word, should make it tolerable to viewers who know they're in for a very wild ride. Of course, there's also a heavy amount of heavy-duty profanity, and one sickening monologue from Warren, as he describes the horrific way he abused and murdered the son of one of the men in the room.

Meanwhile, "Sisters" is the latest team-up between Fey and Poehler, adding to their decade-plus collaboration in everything from "SNL" to the hit movie "Baby Mama" and co-hosting the Golden Globes awards. This time, they play two middle-aged sisters named Kate and Maura Ellis, who have grown apart as adults, only to be drawn together when their parents (James Brolin and Dianne Wiest) decide to sell their childhood home, and they refuse to let that happen.

Fey's Kate is a former hard partier, while Poehler's Maura has spent her life in ridiculous levels of repression. But with Maura refusing to stop grieving the end of her marriage a full two years after her divorce and Kate learning that their home's new buyers will only purchase the place if it's in great shape, the two decide to hatch the wildest party of their lives and invite everyone they knew from high school to the house for one last rager.

From there, the movie's script feels nonexistent, as the movie drifts into endless scenes of bad behavior that seem disconnected from not only each other but any sense of compelling narrative. It seems that Fey and Poehler talked a studio into spending about $30 million on letting them turn on a camera and speak and act as crudely as possible.

The movie is packed wall-to-wall with nearly as much swearing and bad behavior - including a heavy amount of sexual innuendos and a surprising amount of drug humor - as "Hateful," but is even less funny despite trying to be a straight-up comedy. Director Jason Moore seems to have turned the camera on and walked away in frustration. Viewers will think about doing the same.

_Carl Kozlowski has been a professional film critic and essayist for the past five years at Pasadena Weekly, in addition to the Christian movie site Movieguide.org, the conservative pop culture site Breitbart.com Big Hollywood, the Christian pop culture magazine Relevant, and New City newspaper in Chicago. He also writes in-depth celebrity interviews for Esquire.com and The Progressive. He is owner of the podcasting siteradiotitans.com, which was named one of the Frontier Fifty in 2013 as one of the 50 best talk-radio outlets in the nation by talkers.com and will be re-launching it in January 2014 after a five-month sabbatical. He lives in Los Angeles._

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**Untying Knots with the Mother of Mercy**

_by Sr. Joan L. Roccasalvo, C.S.J.  • January 6, 2016_

The New Year fittingly began under the protection of Mary, the Mother of God. With so many other titles accorded her, this most famous woman of all time is praised and loved across cultures and religious traditions. Without her inspiration, the arts -- poetry and music, painting, art and architecture, would be woefully impoverished. Countless are the Marian churches and pilgrim sites whose magnetism draws those seeking her intercession with her Son.

Mary attracts young and old, men and women -- people of all faiths and of none. Atheists amuse, proclaiming: 'God does not exist, and Mary is his mother.' Is she the softer face of the divine?

A mother's love is unconditional especially when her children go astray. Her tender mercy consoles like no other, and through her, the tightest of knots can be loosened and untied. The Doors of Mercy have been opened across the time zones, and under her title, _Mater misericordiae_ , Mary will exercise her role of mercy. She will enlist our help in loosening and untying the most stubborn of knots wherever they exist.

**Knots in Mary 's Life**

With the angelic message, Mary's placid life at Nazareth was suddenly thrown into turmoil, as was Joseph's. Once married, they traveled to Bethlehem to enroll in the census. Where was the Child to be born? In escaping Herod's wrath, they were filled with tension escaping to Egypt in the middle of the night like fugitives. Then there were predictions by Simeon and Anna about the Child's future. And what if they had been careless and lost him in the temple environs? It was one stressful event after the other -- a series of knots.

**Mary at Cana**

At the wedding at Cana, we see Mary untying a knot for the bride and groom, at least in its initial stage (Jn 2:1-11). The wine has run out. On a day when they should be rejoicing, they're in great distress. What will the guests think and say?

Mary notices even before the guests and intends to do something about it. Jesus sees but plans to remain uninvolved. They're her friends, not his. Still, he will not refuse his mother's request. She knows this ahead of time.

'Now is not the time for a miracle,' Jesus promptly responds. She looks past him as though not listening. "Do whatever he tells you," come the words to the servant. You have to love her cool, as our young people might say.

**Our Lady Intercedes in a Potential Divorce**

The story of Our Lady who loosens knots begins in 1612 in Augsburg in Germany. Wolfgang Langenmantel and Sophia Rentz, husband and wife and both of noble estate, were on the verge of a divorce. Over a period of twenty-eight days, Wolfgang sought help from Jakob Rem, a Jesuit priest, together praying to Our Lady to untie the knots of their marital problems. They prayed that she smooth out the ribbon that had bound them together at their wedding ritual. The divorce did not happen, and together the couple lived out their married life. Years later, to commemorate this turn of events, their grandson, Fr. Hieronymus Langenmantel of St. Peter's Monastery in Augsburg commissioned the painting, "Untier of Knots."

**Mary and Islam**

To ask what Islam teaches about Mary is certain to puzzle many. We should admit that among otherwise well-educated Westerners, there exists a basic ignorance of the Islamic faith and the Qur'an. Ignorance begets fear which in turn can paralyze persons, cities, and nations.

When Islam came into being in the seventh century, Christianity and devotion to Mary were already well established in the eastern and western part of the Roman Empire. Mohammed claimed he was the bearer of God's revelation. Transmitted to him by the Angel Gabriel and the Spirit, the Qur'an is the final word of what Allah, the God of Abraham, Ishmael, and Jesus wished to communicate to humankind. Mohammed is the final and most important messenger and prophet Allah sent.

**Jesus in the Qur 'an**

Jesus is mentioned in the Qur'an only twice without reference to his utterances and no mention of the Nativity narrative. There is no mention of Jesus' public life or of the redemption because he was not crucified and was not resurrected from the dead. Jesus who is not the Messiah appears only as a holy messenger who did perform miracles. He is not God, nor is he the Son of God, a fact that in the Islamic belief-system would contradict God's oneness (Sura 4:157, 159; 5:72). Nor is Jesus Emmanuel, God-with-us. God is not present or at work among us but remains outside of this world's concerns.

**Mary in the Qur 'an**

The Qur'an negates the importance of Jesus while it extols the virtues of his Mother. However, she may not claim divine motherhood; she is not a Queen because Jesus is not a King, or rather the King of the Universe.

Mohammed names the mother of Jesus, as 'the best woman ever to live.' Several chapters in the Qur'an express an outpouring of love for her; she is mentioned thirty-four times, a far greater number than in the Gospels. Given the fact that Jesus, Isa-bin-Maryam (the son of Mary), is spoken of so rarely contrasted with the many expressions of devotion to her, are we to conclude that the Mother is preferred to her Son? It would seem that Islam and the Qur'an present knotted doctrinal issues.

**Mary, a Bridge Builder?**

With so many differences between the two faiths, Mary may very well be the only point of agreement between them -- apart from their belief in one God. The sheer outpouring of love for Mary in the Qur'an, especially in Surat Maryam (Chapter 19), proves that she is honored both in Islam and in Catholicism. Setting up a commission of Catholic and Muslim scholars would go a long way to begin a dialogue, with Mary as a point of agreement.

**Mary 's Mercy Becomes Ours: One Example**

Here is one person's unusual interpretation of mercy during this Jubilee Year.

When Stefan was a child, his biological father left him. Eventually, he immigrated to this country from Latvia. Then his mother left him. Today, at twenty-nine, Stefan lives with his grandmother, a pediatrician, in her basement apartment. He sleeps on a couch and forgoes any luxuries or even basic privacy. In return for lodging and food, he takes care of her.

Once in this country, Stefan met a remarkable tutor who has recently become his benefactor. Gifted artistically, Stefan could not have entered the graduate level program at Parsons School of Design without some financial intervention. When the Federal Loans left him shy of $5,500 each semester, his tutor and benefactor helped to secure his future by making up the difference. No strings attached, except to keep up good grades. Stefan's grades are almost all A's, and he has made the Dean's List. Diligent to a fault, he submits superb papers and makes design presentations in class that win the admiration of his professors. What could be more salutary than helping to make a human life possible, promising, and fulfilling? What better use of money?

Mary's mercy must become ours, and our mercy must imitate hers. In this Jubilee Year, Pope Francis has exhorted each of us to walk through the doors of mercy with those in need of our support. It need not be financial. But any support must be sincere as each of us helps untie knots in the lives of others during this Year of Mercy.

_Sr. Joan L. Roccasalvo, a member of the Congregation of St. Joseph, Brentwood, NY, holds degrees in philosophy (Ph.L.), musicology (Ph.D.), theology (M.A.), and liturgical studies (Ph.D.). She has taught at all levels of Catholic education and writes with a particular focus on a theology of beauty and the sacred arts. Her e-mail address isjroccasalvo@optonline.net._

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**SUNDAY  • JANUARY 10, 2016**

**The Baptism of the Lord**

**First Reading** (Is 42:1-4, 6-7; NRSVCE)

Here is my servant, whom I uphold,

my chosen, in whom my soul delights;

I have put my spirit upon him;

he will bring forth justice to the nations.

He will not cry or lift up his voice,

or make it heard in the street;

a bruised reed he will not break,

and a dimly burning wick he will not quench;

he will faithfully bring forth justice.

He will not grow faint or be crushed

until he has established justice in the earth;

and the coastlands wait for his teaching.

I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness,

I have taken you by the hand and kept you;

I have given you as a covenant to the people,

a light to the nations,

to open the eyes that are blind,

to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,

from the prison those who sit in darkness.

**Second Reading** (Acts 10:34-38; NRSVCE)

Peter began to speak to the house of Cornelius: "I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ -- he is Lord of all. That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him."

**Gospel Reading** (Lk 3:15-16, 21-22; NRSVCE)

The people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, John answered all of them by saying, "I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire."

Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."
**MONDAY  • JANUARY 11, 2016**

**Monday of the First Week in Ordinary Time**

**First Reading** (1 Sm 1:1-8; NRSVCE)

There was a certain man of Ramathaim, a Zuphite from the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Elkanah son of Jeroham son of Elihu son of Tohu son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. He had two wives; the name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.

Now this man used to go up year by year from his town to worship and to sacrifice to the Lord of hosts at Shiloh, where the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests of the Lord. On the day when Elkanah sacrificed, he would give portions to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters; but to Hannah he gave a double portion, because he loved her, though the Lord had closed her womb. Her rival used to provoke her severely, to irritate her, because the Lord had closed her womb. So it went on year by year; as often as she went up to the house of the Lord, she used to provoke her. Therefore Hannah wept and would not eat. Her husband Elkanah said to her, "Hannah, why do you weep? Why do you not eat? Why is your heart sad? Am I not more to you than ten sons?"

**Gospel Reading** (Mk 1:14-20; NRSVCE)

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news."

As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea -- for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, "Follow me and I will make you fish for people." And immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.
**TUESDAY  • JANUARY 12, 2016**

**Tuesday of the First Week in Ordinary Time**

**First Reading** (1 Sm 1:9-20; NRSVCE)

After Hannah had eaten and drunk at Shiloh, she rose and presented herself before the Lord. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat beside the doorpost of the temple of the Lord. She was deeply distressed and prayed to the Lord, and wept bitterly. She made this vow: "O Lord of hosts, if only you will look on the misery of your servant, and remember me, and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a male child, then I will set him before you as a nazirite until the day of his death. He shall drink neither wine nor intoxicants, and no razor shall touch his head."

As she continued praying before the Lord, Eli observed her mouth. Hannah was praying silently; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard; therefore Eli thought she was drunk. So Eli said to her, "How long will you make a drunken spectacle of yourself? Put away your wine." But Hannah answered, "No, my lord, I am a woman deeply troubled; I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have been pouring out my soul before the Lord. Do not regard your servant as a worthless woman, for I have been speaking out of my great anxiety and vexation all this time." Then Eli answered, "Go in peace; the God of Israel grant the petition you have made to him." And she said, "Let your servant find favor in your sight." Then the woman went to her quarters, ate and drank with her husband, and her countenance was sad no longer.

They rose early in the morning and worshiped before the Lord; then they went back to their house at Ramah. Elkanah knew his wife Hannah, and the Lord remembered her. In due time Hannah conceived and bore a son. She named him Samuel, for she said, "I have asked him of the Lord."

**Gospel Reading** (Mk 1:21-28; NRSVCE)

Jesus and his disciples went to Capernaum; and when the sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught. They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, and he cried out, "What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God." But Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be silent, and come out of him!" And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, "What is this? A new teaching -- with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him." At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee.
**WEDNESDAY  • JANUARY 13, 2016**

**Wednesday of the First Week in Ordinary Time**

**First Reading** (1 Sm 3:1-10, 19-20; NRSVCE)

Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord under Eli. The word of the Lord was rare in those days; visions were not widespread.

At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his room; the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was. Then the Lord called, "Samuel! Samuel!" and he said, "Here I am!" and ran to Eli, and said, "Here I am, for you called me." But he said, "I did not call; lie down again." So he went and lay down. The Lord called again, "Samuel!" Samuel got up and went to Eli, and said, "Here I am, for you called me." But he said, "I did not call, my son; lie down again." Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. The Lord called Samuel again, a third time. And he got up and went to Eli, and said, "Here I am, for you called me." Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy. Therefore Eli said to Samuel, "Go, lie down; and if he calls you, you shall say, 'Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.'" So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

Now the Lord came and stood there, calling as before, "Samuel! Samuel!" And Samuel said, "Speak, for your servant is listening."

As Samuel grew up, the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was a trustworthy prophet of the Lord.

**Gospel Reading** (Mk 1:29-39; NRSVCE)

After Jesus left the synagogue, he entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Now Simon's mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them.

That evening, at sunset, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. And the whole city was gathered around the door. And he cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.

In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. And Simon and his companions hunted for him. When they found him, they said to him, "Everyone is searching for you." He answered, "Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do." And he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons.
**THURSDAY  • JANUARY 14, 2016**

**Thursday of the First Week in Ordinary Time**

**First Reading** (1 Sm 4:1-11; NRSVCE)

In those days the Philistines mustered for war against Israel, and Israel went out to battle against them; they encamped at Ebenezer, and the Philistines encamped at Aphek. The Philistines drew up in line against Israel, and when the battle was joined, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who killed about four thousand men on the field of battle. When the troops came to the camp, the elders of Israel said, "Why has the Lord put us to rout today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord here from Shiloh, so that he may come among us and save us from the power of our enemies." So the people sent to Shiloh, and brought from there the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts, who is enthroned on the cherubim. The two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.

When the ark of the covenant of the Lord came into the camp, all Israel gave a mighty shout, so that the earth resounded. When the Philistines heard the noise of the shouting, they said, "What does this great shouting in the camp of the Hebrews mean?" When they learned that the ark of the Lord had come to the camp, the Philistines were afraid; for they said, "Gods have come into the camp." They also said, "Woe to us! For nothing like this has happened before. Woe to us! Who can deliver us from the power of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with every sort of plague in the wilderness. Take courage, and be men, O Philistines, in order not to become slaves to the Hebrews as they have been to you; be men and fight."

So the Philistines fought; Israel was defeated, and they fled, everyone to his home. There was a very great slaughter, for there fell of Israel thirty thousand foot soldiers. The ark of God was captured; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died.

**Gospel Reading** (Mk 1:40-45; NRSVCE)

A leper came to Jesus begging him, and kneeling he said to him, "If you choose, you can make me clean." Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, "I do choose. Be made clean!" Immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. After sternly warning him he sent him away at once, saying to him, "See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them." But he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the word, so that Jesus could no longer go into a town openly, but stayed out in the country; and people came to him from every quarter.
**FRIDAY  • JANUARY 15, 2016**

**Friday of the First Week in Ordinary Time**

**First Reading** (1 Sm 8:4-7, 10-22a; NRSVCE)

All the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, and said to him, "You are old and your sons do not follow in your ways; appoint for us, then, a king to govern us, like other nations." But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, "Give us a king to govern us." Samuel prayed to the Lord, and the Lord said to Samuel, "Listen to the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them."

So Samuel reported all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking him for a king. He said, "These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen, and to run before his chariots; and he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his courtiers. He will take one-tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and his courtiers. He will take your male and female slaves, and the best of your cattle and donkeys, and put them to his work. He will take one-tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves; but the Lord will not answer you in that day."

But the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel; they said, "No! but we are determined to have a king over us, so that we also may be like other nations, and that our king may govern us and go out before us and fight our battles." When Samuel had heard all the words of the people, he repeated them in the ears of the Lord. The Lord said to Samuel, "Listen to their voice and set a king over them."

**Gospel Reading** (Mk 2:1-12; NRSVCE)

When Jesus returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. So many gathered around that there was no longer room for them, not even in front of the door; and he was speaking the word to them. Then some people came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. And when they could not bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him; and after having dug through it, they let down the mat on which the paralytic lay. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven." Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, "Why does this fellow speak in this way? It is blasphemy! Who can forgive sins but God alone?" At once Jesus perceived in his spirit that they were discussing these questions among themselves; and he said to them, "Why do you raise such questions in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Stand up and take your mat and walk'? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins"-- he said to the paralytic --"I say to you, stand up, take your mat and go to your home." And he stood up, and immediately took the mat and went out before all of them; so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, "We have never seen anything like this!"
**SATURDAY  • JANUARY 16, 2016**

**Saturday of the First Week in Ordinary Time**

**First Reading** (1 Sm 9:1-4, 17-19; 10:1; NRSVCE)

There was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish son of Abiel son of Zeror son of Becorath son of Aphiah, a Benjaminite, a man of wealth. He had a son whose name was Saul, a handsome young man. There was not a man among the people of Israel more handsome than he; he stood head and shoulders above everyone else.

Now the donkeys of Kish, Saul's father, had strayed. So Kish said to his son Saul, "Take one of the boys with you; go and look for the donkeys." He passed through the hill country of Ephraim and passed through the land of Shalishah, but they did not find them. And they passed through the land of Shaalim, but they were not there. Then he passed through the land of Benjamin, but they did not find them.

When Samuel saw Saul, the Lord told him, "Here is the man of whom I spoke to you. He it is who shall rule over my people." Then Saul approached Samuel inside the gate, and said, "Tell me, please, where is the house of the seer?" Samuel answered Saul, "I am the seer; go up before me to the shrine, for today you shall eat with me, and in the morning I will let you go and will tell you all that is on your mind."

Samuel took a vial of oil and poured it on his head, and kissed him; he said, "The Lord has anointed you ruler over his people Israel. You shall reign over the people of the Lord and you will save them from the hand of their enemies all around. Now this shall be the sign to you that the Lord has anointed you ruler over his heritage."

**Gospel Reading** (Mk 2:13-17; NRSVCE)

Jesus went out again beside the sea; the whole crowd gathered around him, and he taught them. As he was walking along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, "Follow me." And he got up and followed him.

And as he sat at dinner in Levi's house, many tax collectors and sinners were also sitting with Jesus and his disciples -- for there were many who followed him. When the scribes of the Pharisees saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, they said to his disciples, "Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?" When Jesus heard this, he said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners."
