“God has reconciled us to himself through Christ and given us the ministry of reconciliation. … So we are ambassadors for Christ, as if God were appealing through us: we implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”
— 2 Cor 5:18-20
Missionaries of Mercy were appointed by Pope Francis during the Jubilee of Mercy in 2016 as a conspicuous sign of “God the Father’s readiness to welcome those in search of his pardon” and the “Church’s maternal solicitude for the People of God.” Appointed priests from around the world were given a special mandate to be “persuasive preachers of mercy,” to commit themselves in a particular way to hearing confessions with the “authority to pardon even those sins reserved to the Holy See,” and to serve as “personal witnesses of God’s closeness and of his way of loving.” Pope Francis has extended the mandate of the Missionaries of Mercy until further notice as a sign that the graces of the Jubilee of Mercy continue.
This website has been created to make it possible for you to locate easily the priests in the United States and Canada who have been given this mandate by Pope Francis as well as to present some basic information to help you take advantage of the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation, learn what the Popes and the Catholic Church have taught about God’s mercy in daily life, be spurred to live the corporal and spiritual works of mercy, and discover some of what Missionaries of Mercy have been seeking to do to share the mercy God lavishes upon us.
“The Lord never tires of forgiving: never! It is we who tire of asking his forgiveness. Let us ask for the grace not to tire of asking for forgiveness, because he never tires of forgiving! ”
— Pope Francis
