ROME  | Every two years the Missionaries of Mercy meet in Rome for continuing formation in the ministry. This year it coincides with the Jubilee Year of Hope.

During the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy in 2016, Pope Francis commissioned more than 1,000 missionaries worldwide, and commissioned other since then. In the Bull of Indiction, Pope Francis said there is an important role for the Missionaries to help to open the hearts of the penitents to hope. “May they remain a source of reconciliation and an encouragement to look to the future with heartfelt hope inspired by the Father’s mercy,” the Bull goes on to say. (See #23 from the Bull of Indiction)

Of the 1,200 Missionaries of Mercy worldwide today, about 500 attended the pilgrimage March 29. “Our particular mission is to help people find hope through the Mercy of God which flows freely through the Sacrament of Reconciliation,” said Father Anthony Aarons, the Diocese of Orlando’s Missionary of Mercy and rector of the Basilica of the National Shrine of Mary, Queen of the Universe. “In this Sacrament we reveal the face of the Crucified and Resurrected Christ. It is about his love for us. As St. Paul tells us in Romans 5 — that while we were still sinners Christ died for us and this shows His love for us. That is why we have hope and we will not be disappointed.”

Addressing the Missionaries of Mercy Pope Francis said, “Through your service, you bear witness to the paternal face of God, infinitely great in love, who calls everyone to conversion and constantly renews us with His forgiveness … Conversion and forgiveness are the two caresses with which the Lord wipes every tear from our eyes. They are the hands with which the Church embraces us sinners; they are the feet on which we walk in our earthly pilgrimage.”

Reconciliation at the Basilica is offered Monday – Friday: 10 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 2 p.m., 4 p.m.; Saturday: 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.; Sunday: 9 a.m.-Noon.

A Jubilee plenary indulgence, which removes temporal punishment for sin through Christ’s merits, may be received this Jubilee year by going to any Diocese of Orlando pilgrimage site (St. James Cathedral in Orlando, the Basilica of the National Shrine of Mary, Queen of the Universe in Orlando, and the Basilica of St. Paul in Daytona Beach) and receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation and Holy Communion, and praying for the Pope’s intention. Only one plenary indulgence can be obtained per day. A second indulgence may be obtained if applied to souls in purgatory. For more information click here.

By Glenda Meekins of the Florida Catholic staff, April 4, 2025