Saturday, September 12, 2015

Franciscan Missionaries of Mercy in the JUBILEE YEAR


We are indeed glad to write to you this letter of reminder to all the priest friars of the Franciscan Congregations about the wonderful Opportunity in the Jubilee year of Mercy to become a Missionary of Mercy in order to join in the celebration of Reconciliation.
We invite those of you called to this great mission, to make use of this opportunity and get the recommendation letter from your respective Provincial or Major Superior and apply online to the Pontifical Council for promoting New Evanglisation. We are giving below the details of the procedures.
Kindly go through the following about the online applications from the Potential missionaries of Mercy and do the needful.
We wish those selected missionaries to carry out the powerful transformation of individual and society through the tender mercy of God, as tasted by our beloved Father Francis of Assisi.

1.  Vatican accepting applications from potential 'missionaries of mercy’
From Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis is looking for a few good "missionaries of mercy," priests who are known for their preaching and their dedication to hearing confessions and granting absolution.
If they have their bishop's or superior's support, priests interested in being one of the special communicators of God's mercy are invited to apply online.
The Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization, the office Pope Francis charged with coordinating the Holy Year of Mercy, which begins Dec. 8, posted a list of desired qualities and the application form on the Year of Mercy website: http://www.im.va/content/gdm/en/partecipa/missionari.html.
The missionaries will be commissioned formally by the pope and sent out Feb. 10, Ash Wednesday.
The council said the missionaries are to be "a living sign of the Father's welcome to all those in search of his forgiveness."
They should be "inspiring preachers of mercy; heralds of the joy of forgiveness; welcoming, loving and compassionate confessors, who are most especially attentive to the difficult situations of each person."
With an invitation from a local bishop, the missionaries will preach and administer the sacrament of reconciliation during special Year of Mercy events, the council said.
When Pope Francis announced the Holy Year of Mercy, he said he would give the "missionaries of mercy" special authority or faculties "to pardon even those sins reserved to the Holy See."
Bishop Juan Ignacio Arrieta, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, said the reference to "reserved" sins refers to actions that can bring with them automatic excommunication, for example, abortion when the person is aware of the penalty and commits the sin anyway.
If the person is repentant, he said, the missionaries will be able to remove the excommunication and grant absolution in those cases, which normally require the intervention or permission of the local bishop or the Apostolic Penitentiary, a Vatican court.
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2.    Expectations and potentials of a Missionary of Mercy
On Ash Wednesday, the Missionaries of Mercy will be sent forth by Pope Francis during a celebration in St. Peter’s Basilica. The figure of the Missionary is described in the Bull of Indication Misericordiae Vultus number 18. Please note the following:
Characteristics:
The Missionaries are to be:
  1. a living sign of the Father’s welcome to all those in search of his forgiveness;
  2. facilitators for all, with no one excluded, of a truly human encounter, a source of liberation, rich with responsibility for overcoming obstacles and taking up the new life of Baptism again;
  3. guided by the words, “For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy upon all;
  4. inspiring preachers of Mercy;
  5. heralds of the joy of forgiveness;
  6. welcoming, loving, and compassionate Confessors, who are most especially attentive to the difficult situations of each person.
Functions
The Missionaries will be invited by individual Diocesan Bishops within their particular country to give missions or facilitate specific initiatives organized for the Jubilee, with a particular attention given to the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The Holy Father will grant these Missionaries the authority to pardon even those sins reserved to the Holy See.
Letter from the Bishop
Every Missionary must have a letter of recommendation from his local Ordinary or Religious Superior which testifies to the suitability of the priest for this particular mission.
To become a Missionary, it is required that one carefully fill-out the form “Become a Missionary


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