The Jubilee of the Missionaries of Mercy was celebrated in Rome from March 28 to 30. Currently, there are more than 1,200 priests instituted by Pope Francis as Missionaries of Mercy, and about 400 of them came to Rome from all over the world to participate in the event.
We Redemptorists were present with a dozen missionaries working in Italy, Ukraine, Lithuania, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Poland, Portugal, and Spain.
In our Province of Southern Europe, there are six Missionaries of Mercy: Fathers Pietro, Sergio, Gianni and Laureano for Italy, Father Miguel for Spain, and Father Pedro for Portugal, who was unable to participate in the Jubilee on this occasion.
Many of us have known each other since 2016, when, on the occasion of the previous Jubilee Year, we were sent by the Pope to exercise this new ministry, which is gradually consolidating in the Church.
Pope Francis wanted the sins reserved to the Holy See to be forgiven through the ministry of the Missionaries of Mercy, as a sign that God forgives everything, everyone and always. This principle was expressed in the bull Misericordiae vultus and reaffirmed more recently in the apostolic letter Spes non confundit, with which the Pontiff announced the Jubilee Year of Hope.
The meeting was chaired by Cardinal Rino Fisichella, Prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization, representing Pope Francis. The Missionaries of Mercy have received both spiritual and juridical formation.
The spiritual part was taken care of by our Redemptorist confrere Mons. Alfonso Amarante, rector of the Lateran University, who, referring to the figure of Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori, doctor of the Church and patron of confessors, offered us the keys to exercise the ministry: living the sacrament of reconciliation not as a “duel”, but as a “duet”, being “father, doctor, physician and judge” for those who approach God’s forgiveness.
The legal formation, instead, was guided by Fr. Michael Fiorentino, head of the Office of the Dicastery.
We also had the opportunity to participate in the 24 hours for the Lord, during which we approached the sacrament of reconciliation in the church of San Andrea della Valle, allowing ourselves to be enveloped in the mantle of mercy and experiencing the grace and joy of divine forgiveness.
Another significant moment was the pilgrimage along Via della Conciliazione, which led us to cross the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica.
Afterwards, instead of the planned meeting with Pope Francis, we recited the Holy Rosary in the Vatican Gardens, very close to the Holy Father, praying for his speedy recovery. There we listened to the message that the Pope had written a few days earlier from the hospital, in which he emphasized:
… with your service you bear witness to the paternal face of God, infinitely great in love, […]. Conversion and forgiveness are the two caresses with which the Lord wipes away every tear from our eyes.
I encourage you […] to be attentive in listening, ready to welcome and constant in accompanying those who wish to renew their lives and return to the Lord. […] the Lord’s forgiveness is a source of hope because we can always count on Him, in any situation. God became man to reveal to the world that He never abandons us!
With these words in our hearts, let us return to live the Jubilee with renewed commitment: to listen, welcome and accompany, because God never abandons us.
Fr. Miguel Castro Castro, CSsR.
Missionary of Mercy in Spain
