Pope Francis had announced the Jubilee Year last year which started from December 8th, 2015 and ends on November, 2016.
Bishop Peter Brignall of the Diocese of Wrexham has blessed a portable door of Mercy to give Catholics the opportunity to deepen their understanding of Mercy and to gain plenary indulgences.
The Portable Door of Mercy is in response to Pope Francis’s announcement of the Year of Mercy, allowing even the sick, aged and less mobile to participate in Pope Francis’ concept of forgiveness.
“The Portable Door of Mercy provides that opportunity for those who might not be able to go on pilgrimage to the cathedral of our diocese and pass through the door,” said Bishop Brignall.
“It allows for those who are less able and who are sick to pass through and receive the Mercy of the Father,” he added.
The ‘Portable Door of Mercy’ is taken each Saturday during this Lenten season to different Deaneries within the diocese, and the stations of the cross, the faithful are offered the sacrament of reconciliation.
A statement released by the Diocese of Wrexham stated: “The diocese has an ageing population and many would be unable to make the journey to the cathedral – this initiative of Bishop Peter’s extends God’s mercy to all in bringing the door directly to the people.
“Last weekend, the portable Door of Mercy was taken to the parish of Buckley, Flintshire, where many hundreds of people from all over North Wales attended “24 hours for the Lord”, where priests of the diocese were stationed to hear confessions throughout that period.”
This weekend the door will be taken to Our Lady of Sorrows, Dolgellau. On Saturday 19, the Feast of St Joseph, it will be taken to St Joseph, Denbigh.
Pope Francis said in his homily during Mass, just before he opened the Holy Door in St. Peter’s Basilica:
“To pass through the Holy Door means to rediscover the infinite mercy of the Father who welcomes everyone and goes out personally to encounter each of them. This will be a year in which we grow ever more convinced of God’s mercy.”
During his visit to one of the prisons in Argentina, he said:
“Even the door of a prison cell can become a holy door when a pilgrim begs for mercy and mercy to God.”
