Pontiff dispatches his ‘Missionaries of Mercy’ around the world

VATICAN CITY
(CNA/EWTN News)



The day before he dispatched them as Missionaries of Mercy, Pope Francis met with 650 of the 1,000 priests chosen for the role, telling them to show the tenderness of God’s love to those who confess to them during the Jubilee.

“Let us not forget: before us there is not sin, but the repentant sinner, a person who feels the desire of being welcomed and forgiven,” and who no longer desires to be far from God, the Pope said Feb. 9.

He called to mind the Bible passage in which Noah, after the flood, got drunk from wine he had made in his vineyard, and was found lying naked inside his tent. While his son Ham laughed at him, Noah’s other sons, Shem and Japheth, covered him with a blanket.

When speaking with those who come to the confessional, as priests and as missionaries “we are not called to judge with a sense of superiority, as if we were immune to sin,” Francis said, but are instead asked to take on the attitude of Shem and Japheth, protected their father from shame.

“To be a confessor according to the heart of Christ means to cover the sinner with the blanket of mercy, so that they are no longer ashamed and can recover the joy of their filial dignity.”

Pope Francis gave them their official mandate during his Ash Wednesday Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica Feb. 10.

Selected from every continent, the missionaries, among other things, will be given the faculties to pardon sins in cases otherwise reserved to the Holy See.

Though there are several such sins, the Holy See has clarified that the faculties of the Missionaries of Mercy are limited to just four: profaning the Eucharist, using physical force against the Pope, absolving an accomplice in a sin against the Sixth Commandment (“thou shall not commit adultery”) and violating the seal of the confessional.

In his speech, the Pope said that to be a Missionary of Mercy is a responsibility that has been entrusted to them “because it asks you to be first-person witnesses of God’s closeness and of His way of loving, which is precisely mercy.”

He pointed out that “the Church is Mother,” and asked the missionaries to remember “you are called to express the maternity of the Church.” He underlined the importance of the desire of forgiveness in the heart of those who come to confession.

He said it’s not easy to come before another man and confess one’s sins. Shame “is an intimate feeling that affects one’s personal life and requires an attitude of respect and encouragement on the part of the confessor.”

Pointing to the image of Noah naked in the tent, Pope Francis said the passage, to him, emphasizes the importance of the role of a confessor.

“Before us there is a nude person, with their weaknesses and their limits, with the shame of being a sinner,” he said, and urged the missionaries to always remember that it’s not sin that sits in front of them in the confessional, but a repentant sinner.

He emphasized that personal holiness is the true the source of renewal and reform within the Church and said the role of a missionary of mercy is to carry the sinner “on their own back,” and console them with “the strength of compassion.”