Holy Year of Mercy
The Roman Catholic Church celebrated the Holy Year of Mercy from December 8, 2015 to November 20, 2016. Pope Francis had it with his Bull Misericordiae vultus on April 11, 2015 on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the end of the Second Vatican Council on December 8, 1965 proclaimed an extraordinary holy year .
background
In addition to the holy years , which have been celebrated every 25 years since 1475, the popes repeatedly proclaimed extraordinary holy years on special occasions.
Pope Francis proclaimed the jubilee year in Vespers on the eve of Mercy Sunday, the Sunday after Easter 2015. The idea of mercy plays a special role in this Pope's pontificate . In his bull he pointed out that Jesus Christ is “the face of the mercy of the Father ” and that in this sentence the mystery of the Christian faith seems to be summed up. Mercy as a quality of God's action is “the criterion by which one can recognize who really his children are”: Christians are called to show mercy because they have already been shown mercy; Forgiveness of injustices committed is the most visible expression of merciful love and Christians are specially instructed.
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In many dioceses , special times of prayer and services, worship hours , meetings, and cultural and musical events took place on the occasion of the Year of Mercy . The German Bishops' Conference appointed the Würzburg Auxiliary Bishop Ulrich Boom as Commissioner for the Year of Mercy in Germany and presented a study day on September 21, 2016 as part of its autumn plenary meeting on the subject of “Poverty and Exclusion as a Challenge for the Church and its Caritas”.
One of the highlights of the Year of Mercy was the canonization of the Albanian nun, Mother Teresa, on September 4, 2016 in St. Peter's Square in Rome. Pope Francis praised them as “a particularly suitable example of charity and generous attention to the poor and the last”. At the end of the Holy Year, Pope Francis signed the apostolic letter Misericordia et misera on the Feast of Christ the King in 2016 .
Gate of Mercy
On December 8, 2015, Pope Francis opened the Holy Door in St. Peter's Basilica according to custom . In this year, however, for the first time all dioceses worldwide were given the privilege to set up holy gates in selected churches. This was implemented in numerous episcopal, pilgrimage and monastery churches. In addition, Holy Doors have also been set up in charitable institutions and in prisons. On November 20, 2016, Pope Francis closed the Holy Door, ending the Holy Year of Mercy.
Missionaries of Mercy
On Ash Wednesday 2016, Pope Francis sent priests out as "Missionaries of Mercy". They could be invited by the dioceses and had special powers with regard to absolution at confession .
Pilgrimages
On the occasion of the “Jubilee of Mercy”, different groups of people were invited to pilgrimages to Rome, such as pilgrims in January 2016, young people in April, deacons and priests in May or June, the sick and handicapped in June, charity workers and catechists in September, prisoners and the homeless in November. According to Vatican estimates, a total of 950 million believers participated in the Holy Year.
reception
Those responsible for the implementation of the extraordinary holy year in Rome drew a positive balance. The international media response was also largely positive because the anniversary year was not only celebrated in Rome, but worldwide. In particular, the Jubilee of Mercy was relevant for cultural journalism , as well as for public relations and media presence of the church as well as for journalistic communication about the faith.
Musical reception
The motto of the Holy Year of Mercy plays a central role in the oratorio Laudato si ' by Helmut Schlegel OFM ( libretto ) and Peter Reulein (text).
See also
Web links
- Materials for the Holy Year on the homepage of the German Bishops' Conference
- Hymn of the anniversary year , music by Paul Inwood, text by Eugenio Costa SJ
Individual evidence
- ↑ Misericordiae vultus No. 1.9.
- ↑ dbk.de: Study Day , accessed on November 20, 2016.
- ↑ zeit.de: Pope Francis canonise Mother Teresa , September 4, 2016 , accessed on November 20, 2016.
- ↑ Pope ends 'Holy Year': “Follow the way of love” | tagesschau.de. Accessed November 20, 2016. https://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/heiliges-jahr-vorbei-101.html
- ↑ Vatican Radio: 950 million pilgrims worldwide for Holy Year, November 21, 2016 , accessed on November 25, 2016.
- ↑ katholisch.de , accessed on 2 February 2017th
- ↑ dbk.de: Anniversaries ( memento from November 19, 2016 in the Internet Archive ); dbk.de. Homeless pilgrimage ( Memento from November 19, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Radiko Vatican: 950 million pilgrims worldwide for Holy Year, November 21, 2016 , accessed November 25, 2016.
- ↑ Vatican Radio, Holy Year: Church representatives draw positive conclusions, November 18, 2016 . Vatican Radio, Holy Year: Archbishop Fisichella is satisfied, 11/18/2016 .
- ^ Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization , Voices from an Extraordinary Year .
- ^ Ralf van Bühren , Caravaggio's 'Seven Works of Mercy' in Naples. The relevance of art history to cultural journalism , in Church, Communication and Culture 2 (2017), pp. 63–87, here pp. 79–80.
- ↑ Helmut Schlegel: 50 Years of the Church Music Department - Commissioned LAUDATO SI ' . The text of the oratorio LAUDATO SI '. In: Department of Church Music of the Diocese of Limburg (Ed.): Church Music in the Diocese of Limburg - Laudato sii mio Signore . tape 2/2016 . Diocese of Limburg , Hadamar November 1, 2016, p. 6-8 .