Missionaries of Mercy celebrate the hope that springs from their ministry

By Thaddeus Jones

Missionaries of Mercy from around the world are in Rome for their Jubilee pilgrimage of hope taking place from 28-29 March.

Close to five hundred priests from across Asia, the Americas, Africa, and Europe have gathered together also for their fourth world meeting since their institution by Pope Francis with his 2015 Bull of Indiction for the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy that took place from late 2015 to late 2016.

Today, there are 1,258 priests who are Missionaries of Mercy serving as "a sign of the Church's maternal care for the People of God" (Misericordiae Vultus, n. 18).

The Missionaries have been given the special authority to forgive even sins reserved to the Apostolic See. They focus their ministry on administering the Sacrament of Reconciliation, preaching God's boundless mercy for all, as part of a special outreach emphasizing compassion and hope.

In an interview with Vatican News, Missionary of Mercy Monsignor Theodore Bertagni expressed his happiness in being back in Rome to celebrate the Jubilee of Hope together with his brother priests from around the world who share in this ministry.

He described their meeting once again at the Vatican like that of "a family," those sharing in this grace, sharing experiences, learning from one another, and "also growing spiritually together." 

Father Bernard Olszewski, also a Missionary of Mercy from the United States, expressed his joy in returning to Rome, with this Jubilee being particularly poignant, given "the connection between the institution of the Missionaries of Mercy during the Jubilee Year of Mercy and now the ordinary Jubilee being a Jubilee of Hope" since hope springs from God's boundless mercy.

He celebrates the grace of being "missionaries of that mercy of God, to be able to provide that hope and look to a future which is filled with expectation."

Both Fr. Olszewski and Msgr. Bertagni assist Cross Catholic Outreach, a US-based Catholic charitable organization providing food and medicine around the globe, assisting and supporting the local churches with their humanitarian and spiritual mission.

Their work in preaching about the importance of charity and assisting brothers and sisters in need goes hand-in-hand with their missionary pastoral outreach as confessors and preachers of mercy.

This is Fr. Olszewski's third jubilee experience in Rome. He says the 2025 Jubilee is particularly "meaningful in the sense of being exactly what the world needs, not just we as a Catholic Church, but the world in general," given the many conflicts and divisions in today's world.

He says the Jubilee offers us an opportunity "to stand before the Lord and proclaim that we are a people of hope, despite what the world might show us," and put our faith and charity into action to be "agents of change for good." 

Msgr. Bertagni says we can also live the Jubilee of Hope by opening our eyes to people of different cultures and nations and their own experiences of God and faith, since shared faith is mutually enriching and can build up the hope that springs from it.

He also stresses the importance of praying for peace in our world, as Pope Francis constantly appeals to us to do.

"World peace is really something that we strive for through our ministry of mercy, because it's that mercy that brings peace."