A New Holy Year Starts in SA

Mercy is overwhelmed by self-interest in the world and by hypocrisy in the Church, Pope Francis said on this morning during his general audience address.

The rite of the opening of the Holy Door was preceded by a Mass with 70,000 pilgrims packed in St Peter’s Square on December 8, the feast of the Immaculate Conception and the beginning of the extraordinary Holy Year of Mercy.

Let’s recall how during his first Apostolic journey to Africa, while in Bangui, capital of the Central African Republic breaking with tradition he symbolically opened the first Holy Door of this Jubilee Year of Mercy away from Rome.

And keeping the theme of mercy the pope has said that those who confess to abortion should be forgiven: something traditionally looked at as a grave sin by the Catholic Faith.

“God’s mercy, made present in our midst by the incarnation of his Son, is the very heart of the Gospel”. In the past, only senior church officials could grant forgiveness for the sin.

Among those attending the Mass was Elizabeth Kroff, who said walking through the Holy Door “is the only way to start this (Holy) Year”. “Unlike the times of Martin Luther, indulgences are not a means for the Vatican to make money, but are free for anyone who passes through the holy door”. A coalition of humanitarian groups has banded together to screen images of nature by well-known photographers and filmmakers on the facade of St. Peter’s.

The Pope also wants followers to be “Agents of Mercy” during this year.

During the year-long celebrations, one of the most important events in the 1.2 billion-member Roman Catholic Church, the faithful make pilgrimages to Rome and other religious sites around the world.

As the sun broke through the clouds, heralding the start of the jubilee year, the pope bowed his head and remained still for several minutes in silent prayer. The jubilee is termed extraordinary because it falls outside the regularly scheduled cycle of jubilee years. We have to put mercy before judgment, and in any event God’s judgement will always be in the light of his mercy. The pope’s message of mercy, he said, was critical in a world of political squabbling, spreading global war, and “the vindictiveness found on social media”.

Francis announced his Holy Year on the second anniversary of his papacy, during a chaotic time of ongoing war, terrorist attacks, and inbred violence-a time when the Church and its people most need peace, healing and encouragement.

Leading the crowd in prayer, he said: “You can not conceive of a true Christian who is not merciful, just as you can not conceive of God without his mercy”.

The jubilee year will feature a host of special Masses and extra general audiences to accommodate the throngs of pilgrims, while Francis himself has set aside one Friday each month to slip out of the Vatican to perform an act of mercy himself, in private. “After these decades, we again take up this missionary push with the same power and enthusiasm”, he continued.