DECREE for Jubilee of Mercy

For the Observance of the Special Indulgence on the occasion of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy Archdiocese of Vancouver.

Our Holy Father Pope Francis has established the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, desiring that “the Jubilee be a living experience of the closeness of the Father, whose tenderness is almost tangible, so that the faith of every believer may be strengthened and thus testimony to it be ever more effective.”

At the conclusion of the penitential celebration marking the inauguration of the Jubilee of Mercy, the Holy Father said, “From this moment, we entrust this Holy Year to the Mother of Mercy, that she might turn her gaze upon us and watch over our journey.  Our penitential way, our way of open hearts, throughout one year, to receive the indulgence of God, to receive the Mercy of God.”

In response to the Holy Father’s Indulgence, and in conformity with the provisions of the Apostolic Penitentiary, I declare that the Christian faithful of the Archdiocese of Vancouver, having fulfilled the four conditions listed below and in a spirit of total detachment from any inclination to sin, may benefit from the Plenary Indulgence if they partake devoutly in a sacred function or in a public pious exercise offered on any or all Fridays in the Jubilee Year of Mercy, beginning on Friday, December 11, 2015, and concluding on Friday, November 18, 2016.

 

Four things are necessary to gain this Plenary Indulgence:

  1. The performance of the work to which the Indulgence is attached, which can be satisfied in all cases by offering an Our Father and a Hail Mary or some other prayers of one’s choice for the Pope’s intentions.
  2. Sacramental confession.
  3. Eucharistic Communion.
  4. Prayer for the intentions of the Holy Father.

 

The conditions of confession, Communion and prayer for the Pope’s intentions may be fulfilled several days before or after the performance of the prescribed work.

I designate all Parish Churches and Catholic Hospital and Prison Chapels in the Archdiocese of Vancouver for the exercise of the aforesaid sacred functions.

Lastly, the faithful who are prevented by illness or another legitimate and important cause, always in a spirit of detachment from any inclination to sin, with the intention of fulfilling the usual conditions as soon as possible, can also obtain the Plenary Indulgence, as long as they spiritually join in a celebration for the Jubilee Year of Mercy.

This Decree is effective from the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, December 8, 2015, to the Solemnity of Our Lord, Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, November 20, 2016.

Given at the Archdiocese of Vancouver, in the City of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on the Twenty-Seventh day of November, in the Year of Our Lord, Two Thousand and Fifteen.

 

Most Reverend J. Michael Miller, CSB
Archbishop of Vancouver

 

Reverend Bruce McAllister, JCL
Chancellor