Pope Francis will officially declare the Jubilee Year of Mercy on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, 8 December 2015. At the same time he will be opening the Holy Door in St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican. This has not been opened since the year 2000. Other churches throughout the world will also be designated by local Bishops to open Holy Doors on Saturday 12 December. Two that have special significance for us at Holy Cross College are St Mary’s Cathedral and the Holy Trinity Abbey, New Norcia. We visit both of these on our Pilgrimage Trail during the year.

Pope Francis emphasises that the main purpose for the Year of Mercy is the expression of mercy that is so needed by the world. “Let us rediscover the corporal works of mercy: to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, welcome the stranger, heal the sick, visit the imprisoned, and bury the dead.”

Pope Francis’ Prayer for the Jubilee Year of Mercy

You are the visible face of the invisible Father, 

of the God who manifests his power above all by forgiveness and mercy: 

let the church be your visible face in the world, its Lord risen and glorified. 

You willed that your ministers would also be clothed in weakness in order that they may feel compassion for those in ignorance and error: 

let everyone who approaches them feel sought after, loved, and forgiven by God.
Send your Spirit and consecrate every one of us with its anointing, 

so that the Jubilee of Mercy may be a year of grace from the Lord, 

and your Church, with renewed enthusiasm, may bring good news to the poor, 

proclaim liberty to captives and the oppressed, and restore sight to the blind.
We ask this through the intercession of Mary, Mother of Mercy, you who live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit for ever and ever. Amen.