By Kristina Millare
Rome Newsroom, Mar 30, 2025 / 16:11 pm
The Holy Mass for the Jubilee of Priests instituted as Missionaries of Mercy was celebrated on Sunday at the Basilica of Sant’Andrea della Valle in Rome.
Hundreds of “Missionaries of Mercy” — priests with the authority to “pardon sins reserved to the Holy See” (Misericordiae Vultus, 18) — gathered in Rome’s basilica dedicated to St. Andrew the Apostle to concelebrate Mass with Archbishop Rino Fisichella, pro-prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Evangelization.
In his homily, Fisichella reminded missionaries of mercy priests that they are “special instruments of reconciliation” who offer God’s great love to those who come to the sacrament of confession in search of forgiveness for their sins.
Fisichella encouraged the priests to be confessors who open their hearts and minds to “welcome those who approach us” but to also go out in search of those who are still far from the Church.
Recalling the example of the merciful father who restores dignity to his prodigal son in St. Luke’s Gospel, Fisichella said: “Love forgets sin, and forgiveness forces us to look directly to the future.”
