Cardinal Announces World Mercy Congress

Request more information

The first World Congress on Mercy will open on the third anniversary of the death of Pope John Paul II, announced the archbishop of Vienna.

Cardinal Christoph Schönborn revealed last week in a press conference that the 1st World Apostolic Congress on Mercy will be held April 2-6, 2008, in the Vatican's Paul VI Hall.

The cardinal said that the opening date of the Congress was chosen purposely to coincide with the anniversary of the death of John Paul II as the call to be "witnesses of mercy" was an essential message of the Pontiff.

The Marians of the Immaculate Conception, who have played a key role in spreading the message and devotion of Divine Mercy throughout the world, have been asked to help organize and promote the Congress. The Marians plan to discuss plans during the live telecast on EWTN of the Divine Mercy Sunday celebration at the National Shrine of The Divine Mercy in Stockbridge, Mass., on April 15.

Organizers say that the World Congress will be modeled after the International Eucharistic Congresses, which have been called every few years since 1881. Clergy and laity around the world will be encouraged to give paramount importance to the spirituality and message and devotion of The Divine Mercy.

"The Congress will concern the whole Church - indeed, the whole world," said Fr. Patrice Chocholski of Lyon, France, the General Secretary of the Congress and the personal representative of Cardinal Christropher Schonborn of Vienna, Austria, in organizing it.

During statements to the press last week, Cardinal Schönborn repeated the words of Pope John Paul II at the consecration of the Shrine of Divine Mercy in Krakow-Lagiewniki in 2002: "Apart from the mercy of God there is no other source of hope for humanity."

Lagiewniki is where the nun and mystic St. Faustina Kowalska (1905-1938) lived with her congregation. John Paul II canonized the Polish religious April 30, 2000, and announced on the same day that "throughout the world, the second Sunday of Easter will receive the name of Divine Mercy Sunday."

Cardinal Schönborn said: "Many believers took it as a sign the fact that John Paul II died on the vigil of Divine Mercy Sunday."

A bridge
The Congress will include keynote speakers on biblical, theological, and pastoral themes; testimonies; apostolic workshops; evening festivals in churches; and liturgical celebrations.

The cardinal said that the Divine Mercy event will also have an interreligious component through the participation of Jews, Muslims and Buddhists: "The congress is to be a bridge to other religions, but also reaching out to agnostics and atheists."

Cardinal Schönborn added that the Church is often criticized for its "doctrinal narrowness" and "moral rigidness." That is why, the cardinal said, the first World Congress on Mercy is intended to give a "very radical encouragement" to rediscover the core of the Gospel, that is to say, mercy.

Father Patrice Chocholski, the secretary-general of the Congress, said that the aim of the event is to spread the message of mercy to the greatest number of people, "because mercy can change the world."

Father Chocholski also reported that many other Christian churches and other religious communities, including representatives of Buddhism and Hinduism, have manifested an interest in the congress.

The priest added that he presented the congress to Patriarch Alexy II of the Russian Orthodox Church, and that he was very enthusiastic.

Cardinal Schönborn said that the idea for the initiative was proposed during the Vienna City Mission in 2000.

The idea for a World Congress on Mercy then matured during a meeting in Lagiewniki in 2004 to promote the spiritual testament of John Paul II, namely the "call to divine mercy."

Material for this article was drawn from Zenit.org.

Request more information

You might also like...

The United States of America will be reconsecrated to Mary, Mother of the Church, by the U.S. bishops on May 1. The faithful who may join in by tuning into the USCCB’s social media platforms.

Healthcare Professionals for Divine Mercy prepare for another groundbreaking conference.

By the grace of God, we now add "MIC" to the names James Devine and Nicholas Medley.