Read Cardinal Tagle’s letter to bishops
Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, Caritas president, has echoed Pope Francis’ call to join “the revolution of tenderness” by inviting Caritas organisations to open their own Holy Door of Mercy
Pope Francis will launch the Holy Year of Mercy on 8th December by opening the Holy Door of Mercy at St Peter’s Basilica. The jubilee is an invitation to the faithful to undertake a spiritual journey of compassion in which we rediscover the grace of God through corporal and spiritual works of mercy.
Valentina Bachynska (R), 21, junior coordinator at the Caritas Kiev Center, playing with Aristarkh, a 2 year old boy. MATTHIEU ALEXANDRE / CARITAS INTERNATIONALIS
In a letter to Caritas bishops, “Whether we [Caritas] are providing food to malnourished children, protecting abandoned mothers, defending victims of trafficking, helping rural families to grow their food, advocating for an equitable world, welcoming refugees, providing tarpaulins to typhoon victims or ensuring that those who die from ebola receive a decent burial, we alleviate the suffering of the body and we provide comfort to the spirit. In doing so, we testify that mercy is the bridge that connects us with God and with our brothers and sisters.”
Pope Francis will open the Holy Door of Charity at a Caritas Rome hostel on 18th December. As Bishop of Rome, the Holy Father presides over charity in his diocese and the opening of the door at Caritas emphasises the essential role of acts of charity in the jubilee year.
There are seven corporal and spiritual works of mercy which are acts of charity in which we respond to the spiritual and bodily necessities of our neighbour.
In the letter Pope Francis issued to announce the Holy Year of Mercy, the Holy Father wrote, “Mercy is the very foundation of the Church’s life. All of her pastoral activity should be caught up in the tenderness she makes present to believers; nothing in her preaching and in her witness to the world can be lacking in mercy. The Church’s very credibility is seen in how she shows merciful and compassionate love.”