The letter, titled, "Be Merciful", notes the interest in the jubilee Year of Mercy throughout the Catholic world.

The bishops state that "as a way of life, mercy directs our outlook and our expectations, reflecting a particular view of the world and other people".

The "merciful do not ignore or minimise wrong-doing".

Rather, the merciful "seek to understand before judging, and, wherever possible, are ready to excuse".

"The strength of gentleness empowers the merciful.

"The way of mercy flows from the sacred scriptures that tell of God's love for our world - a love revealed above all in the gift of Jesus who came not to condemn but to save, not to weigh down but to lift up and set free."

The bishops state that mercy is a personal choice, but it is not an easy one.

"I have to forgo my ‘right' to be annoyed, to be angry, to want revenge!

"Yet it is by letting go of these ‘rights' that we find true joyfulness in living.

"As this Holy Year of Mercy continues, we should each give ourselves generously to the sacrament of Reconciliation, seeing it as an opportunity for wholehearted thanksgiving no less than for sincere sorrow.

"This is not an encounter to be feared, but rather a home-coming to anticipate with joy.

"You will find a ready welcome from any priest you approach."

The bishops note that "the merciful are people in touch with their own weakness and therefore they do not expect perfection in others".

The bishops explain that being "merciful to me" is not a call to "go easy on me", "but rather a plea for help to become better, stronger, more capable of contributing to life".

The bishops encourage people to visit diocesan cathedrals with friends, family and other parishioners and to pass through the holy doors of mercy.

These doors "reveal a path to the risen, glorified Christ waiting to welcome you - whatever your failings - into the presence of love, the presence of mercy".

Sources

• Tauranga Catholic
• Image: Reconciliation.org

The "extraordinary Holy Year" will take place from December 8, 2015, the feast of the Immaculate Conception, to November 20, 2016, the Feast of Christ the King.

Announcing the closing date, the Pope added a new term to the title of Christ celebrated that day, also calling Jesus "the living face of the mercy of the Father".

Jubilee years come with the offer of an indulgence to pilgrims and start with the opening of the "Holy Door" of St Peter's Basilica, which is normally closed.

Ordinary jubilee years take place every 25 years while an extraordinary one can be announced to mark a particular event.

The last ordinary jubilee year was in 2000 and the previous extraordinary one was in 1983, to celebrate 1950 years since the death and Resurrection of Jesus.

The Jubilee Year of Mercy will take place on the fiftieth anniversary of the closing of the Second Vatican Council in 1965.

The year is seen as continuing the work of the council.

The Pope announced the jubilee year during a Lenten penitential service on March 13, which was the second anniversary of his election as Pontiff.

He said the whole Church "will find in this jubilee the joy to rediscover and render fruitful the mercy of God, with which we are all called to give consolation to every man and woman of our time".

The Pope also said he wants the Church to live the upcoming holy year "in the light" of Jesus' words in the Gospel of Luke: "Be merciful, just as your father is merciful."

Francis has made mercy a central theme of his papacy.

His 2013 apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium mentions "mercy" 32 times.

Last year's extraordinary synod on the family is known to have discussed how the Church might use its teachings on mercy to address sometimes difficult contemporary family situations, such as divorce and remarriage and same-sex unions.

Mercy is expected to be a theme in the synod on the family in October.

Sources

• The Tablet
• National Catholic Reporter
• Image: Catholic Sun