Pope: Missionaries of Mercy bear witness to paternal face of God

By CathNews New Zealand

April 1st, 2025

Hundreds of priests who serve as missionaries of mercy around the world attend a penitential liturgy in the Basilica of Sant'Andrea della Valle on March 29, 2025, in Rome. (CNS photo/Pablo Esparza)

Some 500 Missionaries of Mercy gathered in Rome last month for a special jubilee dedicated to their role. Source: Catholic News Agency.

Part of the role of a Missionary of Mercy is to act as a special confessor who possesses faculties to absolve certain sins typically reserved to the Holy See. In a message addressed to these priests, and written while still in the hospital, Pope Francis expressed his “gratitude and encouragement” for their work.

“Through your service,” the Pontiff wrote, “you bear witness to the paternal face of God, infinitely great in love, who calls everyone to conversion and constantly renews us with his forgiveness.”

The priests were participating in a special jubilee dedicated to their role as part of the broader 2025 Jubilee of Hope.

Pope Francis reflected on the profound connection between mercy and hope in his message.

“Conversion and forgiveness are the two caresses with which the Lord wipes every tear from our eyes,” he stated.

“They are the hands with which the Church embraces us sinners; they are the feet on which we walk in our earthly pilgrimage.”

The Holy Father encouraged these priests to maintain a compassionate approach in their ministry, urging them to be “attentive in listening, ready in welcoming and steadfast in accompanying those who desire to renew their lives and return to the Lord”.

First commissioned during the 2016 Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, these priests have seen their mandate extended twice by Pope Francis. Their numbers have grown substantially, now surpassing 1250 worldwide.

In Spes Non Confundit, the papal bull of indiction for the 2025 Jubilee Year, Pope Francis wrote that Missionaries of Mercy should “exercise their ministry by reviving hope and offering forgiveness whenever a sinner comes to them with an open heart and a penitent spirit”.

The gathering in Rome included training sessions, communal prayer and a pilgrimage through the Holy Door of St Peter’s Basilica.

FULL STORY

Pope Francis hails Missionaries of Mercy as bearers of God’s forgiveness during Rome jubilee | Catholic News Agency (By A.C. Wimmer/Catholic News Agency)

Pope tells priests hearing confessions is a ‘privilege’ (Catholic News Service)