2016 ~ Holy Year of Mercy

On 13 March, 2015, Pope Francis has declared an extraordinary Holy Year of Mercy which will highlight the Catholic Church's mission to be a witness of mercy. It will begin on 8 December 2015, on the 50th anniversary of the conclusion of the Ecumenical Vatican Council II and will run until the Feast of Christ the King on 20 November 2016. The theme of the year will be "Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful� (cfr. Luke 6:36). The logo for the year is as below, where we see Christ Jesus carrying a man sideways on His shoulders (instead of a lamb), and there are three eyes visible, the centre one clearly being shared between Christ and the man.

* * The logo has been registered in the international forum in order to safeguard its rights and to prevent any inappropriate use. It is obvious that permission must be granted by the Pontifical Council for any non-religious use of the logo and that any infringement will be duly prosecuted.

....not to condemn anyone for eternity.� Rather, �It is to pour out the balm of God�s mercy on all those who ask for it with a sincere heart. The way of the church is precisely to leave her four walls behind and to go out in search of those who are distant, those essentially on the �outskirts� of life; to adopt fully God�s own approach; to follow the Master who said: �Those who are well have no need of the physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call, not the righteous but sinners to repentance.�

�Jesus� call encourages each of us to look underneath the surface of things,� the Pope explained, "particularly when we are face to face with a person. We are called to look beyond and to focus on the heart in order to see how much generosity one is capable of. No one can be excluded from God�s mercy; everyone knows how to access it and the Church is a home that welcomes all and rejects no one. Its doors remain wide open so that those who are touched by grace can find the certainty of forgiveness. The greater the sin, the deeper Church�s love must be for those who convert.�