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:
- a
living sign of the Father’s welcome to all those in search of his
forgiveness;
- 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;
- guided
by the words, “For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have
mercy upon all;
- 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.
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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