Pope Francis values the extraordinary. In an unexpected announcement, the Holy Father declared that the Church will celebrate an extraordinary jubilee Holy Year of Mercy, beginning December 8, 2015 with the feast of the Immaculate Conception and ending November 20, 2016 with the feast of Christ the King.
"I have often thought about how muck the Church might make clear its mission of being a witness to mercy," the pontiff said during a homily at a Vatican reconciliation service. "It is a journey that begins with a spiritual conversion. For this reason, I have decided to call an extraordinary jubilee that is to have the mercy of God at its center. It shall be a Holy Year of Mercy. We want to live this year in the light of the Lord's words: 'Be merciful' (Luke 6:36)." OSV Newsweekly, 3/29/2015
Recently, the Holy Father has named two Capuchin saints and well-known confessors, Padre Pio and St. Leopold Mandic, as patrons for this Jubilee Year.
Old Mission Santa Inés has been designated a pilgrimage site for the Year of Mercy.
