Vatican City, 4 December 2015 (VIS) –
This morning in the Holy See Press Office, Archbishop Rino
Fisichella, president of the Pontifical Council for New
Evangelisation, along with Bishop Jose Octavio Ruiz Arenas and Msgr.
Graham Bell, respectively secretary and under-secretary of the same
dicastery, presented the organisation of the Extraordinary Jubilee of
Mercy (8 December 2015 to 20 November 2016) and the ways in which the
faithful and pilgrims will be able to participate, also explaining
some of the initiatives linked to this event which is intended to
show how “mercy is the very foundation of the Church's life”.
With regard to the most immediate
organisational aspects of the Jubilee, Archbishop Fisichella said
that a Reception Centre for Pilgrims has been open in Via della
Conciliazione 7 from 1 December. “It is a place where information
can be obtained on the Jubilee programme, for registering for the
pilgrimage to the Holy Door, for collecting tickets for the various
events for which a free access ticket is required, and for collecting
the 'testimonium' of participation in the Jubilee”. He emphasised
that only the Pontifical Council for New Evangelisation is authorised
to certify presence at the Jubilee and in the pilgrimage on foot, via
the information point. Any other certificate issued by other entities
is not to be considered authentic. The Centre will be open from 7.30
a.m. to 6.30 p.m. every day, including Saturday and Sunday.
An important contribution will be given
by volunteers, who will provide a reception and help service to all
pilgrims, especially in Via della Conciliazione, St. Peter's Square,
in the other Basilicas and in the Jubilee Churches. The number of
volunteers will rise to 800 to 1000 at major events. The archbishop
also commented that a collection of Pastoral Resources prepared by
the Pontifical Council is now complete in ten languages, including
Ukrainian and Korean.
With regard to the Mass and opening of
the Holy Door in St. Peter’s Basilica, “the celebration will take
place in St. Peter’s Square beginning at 9:30 a.m. It will be
introduced by readings taken from the four Conciliar Constitutions
(Dei Verbum, Lumen gentium, Sacrosanctum concilium e Gaudium et
spes), along with two passages taken from Unitatis redintegratio on
ecumenism and Dignitatis humanae on religious liberty”. He
continued, “As is well known, this day will mark the fiftieth
anniversary of the conclusion of the Second Vatican Council. The
reading of these passages is intended to recall the profound teaching
which came forth from that event, and its continued significant
importance for the life of the Church. It was an event that we cannot
forget and was reflected upon and achieved over the course of three
intense years, in the light of mercy, as Pope Francis himself
reminded us in the Bull, citing Saint John XXIII and Blessed Paul VI.
In the procession for the Eucharistic celebration will be carried the
Book of the Gospels prepared specifically for the Jubilee by P.
Rupnik and published by San Paolo editions. It is a work of art on
whose cover is a mosaic reproduction of the Jubilee logo. This Book
of the Gospels will be set on the same podium which stood by the
altar of Saint Peter’s Basilica during all the sessions of the
Council to make evident to everyone the primacy of the Word of God”.
The ceremony for the opening of the
Holy Door, “which is very simple, will be broadcast on television
worldwide. The Holy Father will request the opening of the Door, and
he will then pass through it. After him, the Cardinals, Bishops, and
representatives of priests, religious men and women, and laity will
cross its threshold, and will continue in procession to the tomb of
the Apostle Peter, where the concluding rite of the Holy Mass will
take place. The Pope will then lead the Angelus as usual from the
window of the Apostolic Palace”.
“The evening of December 8th will
conclude in St. Peter’s Square with a meaningful and unique
presentation entitled “Fiat lux: Illuminating Our Common Home”.
It will be a projection of photographs onto the façade and cupola of
St. Peter’s Basilica, taken from a repertoire of some of the
world’s great photographers. These illuminations will present
images inspired of Mercy, of humanity, of the natural world, and of
climate changes. The show is sponsored by the World Bank Group
(Connect4Climate), by Paul G. Allen's Vulcan Productions, by the Li
Ka-shing Foundation and by Okeanos”.
“On Sunday, December 13, for the
first time in the history of the Jubilee Years, Holy Doors will be
opened cathedrals all over the world. … Pope Francis will open the
Holy Door of his Cathedral of Rome, St. John Lateran, with the
liturgy beginning at 9:30 a.m”.
“The following Friday, December 18,
the Holy Father will perform a symbolic gesture as he opens the Door
of Mercy at the Hostel 'Don Luigi Di Liegro', managed by Caritas of
Rome, located on Via Marsala. For 25 years, persons in grave need,
who require our help, have been received at this hostel. With this
first gesture the Holy Father will begin a series of symbolic actions
that will take place on one Friday of the month, and which he intends
as concrete expressions of the works of mercy.
“Beginning on the day of the opening
of the Holy Door and throughout the entire Jubilee, the Rosary will
be recited daily in St. Peter’s Square in front of the statue of
St. Peter. Various parishes in Rome dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and
Religious Institutes present in Rome with a particular consecration
to the Mother of God, along with various Institutes of formation,
will take turns leading this Rosary”.
Archbishop Fisichella also mentioned
the healthcare services available for pilgrims. In each of the four
Papal Basilicas there will be a First Aid Station. “In addition, in
St. Peter’s Basilica and in other Churches, confessionals have been
set up without structural barriers, and with other considerations to
facilitate confessions for the deaf and hard of hearing. Furthermore,
there is also a touch book planned in A3 format that will permit the
blind and partially-sighted to be guided through the Pilgrimage to
the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica. Finally, the internet site
has also been equipped with facilitated navigation”.
This official website of the Jubilee
(http://www.im.va), translated into seven languages, “will permit
those who cannot be physically present to follow the Major Jubilee
events that will take place in Rome. To register for the passage
through the Holy Door, and likewise to become a volunteer, it is
necessary to enrol on the indicated sections of the site. In
addition, I believe it opportune here to say a few words about the
Portal “vatimecum”, endorsed by the Pontifical Council for the
Promotion of the New Evangelisation, by means of which pilgrims may
obtain services relating to room and board in Rome at controlled
prices, along with a great deal of other information about living the
Jubilee”.
“The initiative of the 'Missionaries
of Mercy' merits a final consideration”, added the prelate. “The
Missionaries are priests who come from various parts of the world,
and who were proposed by their own bishops to carry out this special
service. Beginning on Ash Wednesday, they will receive the mandate
from the Holy Father to be preachers of mercy and confessors full of
mercy. They will receive from the Holy Father the faculty to forgive
sins reserved to the Holy See, and will be the sign of the closeness
and pardon of God for all. It is important for me to underscore that
the Missionaries of Mercy are appointed exclusively by the Holy
Father, and that the faculty of forgiving reserved sins will be given
to each one of them personally. No bishop in his own diocese may
appoint these Missionaries, nor may he confer faculties that he does
not possess”.
“The Jubilee is already at hand”,
concluded Archbishop Fisichella. “We are certain that it will be
lived intensely by pilgrims who, whether it be in their own
Particular Churches or in Rome, will cross through the Holy Door. For
this occasion the Holy Father has granted all the Bishops of the
world the power to give the Papal Blessing at the Holy Mass for the
opening of the Holy Door, and for the closure of the door at the end
of the Holy Year. This Jubilee will be an experience of mercy for
each person to feel more intimately the love of God, who like a
Father welcomes everyone and excludes no one”.
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