November 15, 2015

Pope Francis declared on March 13, 2015 that December 8, 2015 (Solemnity of the Immaculate
Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary and 50th anniversary of the closing of the Second Vatican Council)
through November 20, 2016 (Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe) would constitute
an Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy. His Bull of Indiction of the Extraordinary Year of Mercy was
released April 11, 2015 (see http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/bulls.index.html). Gerard
OConnell reported Pope Francis declares a jubilee year of mercy, in America Magazine, March 11,
2015, pp. 8-9:
Pope Francis will open this 30th jubilee in the history of the church on the 50th
anniversary of the closing of the Second Vatican Council and just over a month after the
closing of the October gathering of the Synod of Bishops on the Family.
A jubilee year is a great religious event that originated in Judaism and was linked
to universal pardons and reconciliation. As the Book of Leviticus tells us (25:8-13), it
was celebrated every 50 years; slaves and prisoners were freed, debts were forgiven and
God's mercy was made more manifest. The church revived that tradition in the year 1300
under Pope Boniface VIII. Since then there have been 29 jubilees, or holy years.
Francis has been called the pope of mercy ever since his election on March 13,
2013. He has frequently proclaimed to the world the God of mercy, who wants to save
people, not to condemn them. It was the central theme of his first Mass for the public in
the Church of Sant' Anna in the Vatican on March 17, 2013, and of his midday talk to the
almost half million people who gathered in and around St Peter's Square that same day,
when he praised Cardinal Walter Kasper's book on the topic of mercy. It is a theme that
has surfaced again and again in his talks and homilies throughout the past two years.

According to Joshua J. McElwee, Pope declares jubilee year of mercy, National Catholic
Reporter, March 27, 2015, p. 1+:
A jubilee year is called by the church to receive blessing and pardon from God,
and remission of sins. The Catholic Church has called jubilee years every 25 or 50 years
since the year 1300, and has also called special jubilee years from time to time, known as
extraordinary jubilee years.
The last jubilee year was held in 2000, during the papacy of Pope John Paul II, and
was known as the Great Jubilee. The last extraordinary jubilee year was held in 1983 to
celebrate 1,950 years since the death and resurrection of Jesus.
Pope Francis has answered why he called this momentous event at this time (Homily of his
Holiness Pope Francis, April 11, 2015, http://
http://www.iubilaeummisericordiae.va/content/gdm/en/francesco/omelie/2015-04-11omelia.html):
Many question in their hearts: why a Jubilee of Mercy today? Simply because the
Church, in this time of great historical change, is called to offer more evident signs of
Gods presence and closeness. This is not the time to be distracted; on the contrary, we
need to be vigilant and to reawaken in ourselves the capacity to see what is essential. 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 Fathers mercy (cf. John
20:21-23). For this reason, the Holy Year must keep alive the desire to know how to
welcome the numerous signs of the tenderness which God offers to the whole world and,
above all, to those who suffer, who are alone and abandoned, without hope of being
pardoned or feeling the Fathers love.
Entitled Misericordiae Vultus or The Face of Mercy, the Bull begins by saying how Jesus is 'the face'
of His Father's mercy. Furthermore, Pope Francis writes how Gods mercy is predominant in our lives
(Pope Francis, Bull of Indiction of the Extraordinary Year of Mercy, #2):
It is a wellspring of joy, serenity, and peace. Our salvation depends on it. Mercy: the word
reveals the very mystery of the Most Holy Trinity. Mercy: the ultimate and supreme act by which
God comes to meet us. Mercy: the fundamental law that dwells in the heart of every person who
looks sincerely into the eyes of his brothers and sisters on the path of life. Mercy: the bridge that
connects God and man, opening our hearts to the hope of being loved forever despite our
sinfulness.
Pope Francis points to the Psalms on numerous occasions in his Bull. Psalm 103: 3-4 speaks of Gods
patience and mercy; Psalm 146: 7-9 refers to concrete signs of Gods mercy; Psalms 136 repeats the verse
for his mercy endures forever 26 times. And Pope Francis also relies on the New Testament in his Bull,
noting that Jesus expected his followers to forgive others not seven times, but seventy times seven times
(Matthew 18: 22) while sharing a significant parable about a master ordering the torture of another who
refused mercy on others after he had been shown forgiveness.
Pope Francis offers examples of personal responses to the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy. He
encourages a pilgrimage during this Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy. He notes that each of us has a
journey in ones own life, This will be a sign that mercy is also a goal to reach and requires dedication
and sacrifice. May pilgrimage be an impetus to conversion. (#14). He calls for a renewed
consciousness and practice of the 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 deadand
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 Papal Office will act to make the year even more unique by sending Missionaries of Mercy, priests
empowered to offer pardons formerly reserved to the Holy See. And, like all Jubilees, this Jubilee will
entail the granting of indulgences (described by Pope Paul VI in Idulgentiarum Doctrina, 1967, as the
remission in the sight of God of the temporal punishment due to sins which has already been blotted out
as far as guilt is concerned.).
Pope Francis charged the Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization to implement activities and ideas
for us throughout this Jubilee. You may follow the Pontifical Councils action on the Jubilee via
http://www.iubilaeummisericordiae.va/content/gdm/en.html.

Br. Steve Herro, O. Praem.

Pastoral Associate, St. Clare Parish