Vatican now recruiting priests to be Missionaries of Mercy, commissioned for Jubilee work
August 18, 2015
The Vatican has begun accepting applications from priests who wish to join the corps of “Missionaries of Mercy” that Pope Francis will create for the Jubilee Year.
In April, when he unveiled his plans for the Year of Mercy in the bull Misericordiae Vultus, the Pope said that the missionaries of mercy would be granted “the authority to pardon even those sins reserved to the Holy See.” Those reserved sins include desecration of the Eucharist and direct abortion.
The Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization, which is coordinating plans for Jubilee events, is now encouraging priests to apply for the new role. The application form calls for “welcoming, loving, and compassionate confessors;” applicants are asked to submit a letter of endorsement from their diocesan bishops or religious superiors.
The first Missionaries of Mercy will be commissioned on Ash Wednesday of 2016 and sent out on their assignments.
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Further information:
- Vatican invites priests to apply to become ‘missionaries of mercy’ (CNS)
- Pope outlines plans for the extraordinary jubilee of mercy (CWN, 4/13)
- Missionaries of Mercy- application form (Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization)
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