Pope Francis announces Extraordinary Holy Year of Mercy.

During a penitential service at St. Peter’s Basilica on 12th March, Pope Francis announced the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy, which will begin later this year on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception 8th December. It will end on the Solemnity of Christ the King 20th November 2016.

In the Bull of Indiction, Misericordiae Vultus, the document announcing the Year of Mercy, Pope Francis impresses on us that: 

The mercy of God is his loving concern for each one of us. He feels responsible; that is, he desires our wellbeing and he wants to see us happy, full of joy, and peaceful. This is the path which the merciful love of Christians must also travel. As the Father loves, so do his children. Just as he is merciful, so we are called to be merciful to each other.

The scriptural focus for the jubilee year will be Christ’s command from Luke 6:36 “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”

For further information on The Extraordinary Holy Year of Mercy click here.