Bishops Celebrate Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, and Hold Annual Meetings of English and French Sectors

Wednesday, September 28 2016

(CCCB – Ottawa)… The third day of the Plenary Assembly of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) opened with the Divine Liturgy according to the Maronite usage of the West Syro-Antiochene Rite. The celebration was presided by the Most Reverend Paul-Marwan Tabet, Eparchial Bishop for Catholic Maronites in Canada. Subsequently, the day was devoted to meetings of both the French and English Sectors. In the evening, the Bishops gathered at Sainte-Croix Church in Cornwall for a pilgrimage to the Holy Door of Mercy, with Benediction and Vespers presided by the Most Reverend Terrence Prendergast, S.J., Archbishop of Ottawa and Apostolic Administrator of Alexandria-Cornwall.

Announced in April 2015 by Pope Francis, the Year of Mercy began on December 8, 2015, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, and will conclude in Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome on November 20, 2016, the Solemnity of Christ the King. Canadian dioceses and eparchies are celebrating the Jubilee with numerous activities and focus groups, in addition to the Doors of Mercy which they have opened in their Cathedrals or other churches in their dioceses.

To help mark the Jubilee of Mercy, the CCCB undertook a number of special initiatives. These included posting a new webpage and publishing a special pocket-book edition in French of the Gospel of Luke.. A number of dioceses in the English Sector for their part made available a popular English-language version of the Gospel of Luke. The CCCB Episcopal Commission for Doctrine published a pamphlet, The Beauty of Mercy: Pope Francis and Confession, providing a series of quotations from the Holy Father on the importance and beauty of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The CCCB President’s message for Christmas 2015 and Easter 2016 focused on mercy. The English Sector Commission for Evangelization and Catechesis well as the Office de catéchèse du Québec released materials to mark the Jubilee of Mercy for catechists. The CCCB Office for Evangelization and Catechesis reflected on mercy in its Winter 2016 edition of the newsletter On Good Soil. The CCCB Standing Committee for Movements and Associations focused its annual Pentecost message on mercy. The theme for the CCCB National Week for Life and the Family in 2016 was “My Family: A School of Mercy”.

Daily briefings on the 2016 Plenary Assembly
For a fifth year, daily briefings on the Plenary are broadcast in English and French on the Internet with the collaboration of Salt + Light TV. At the end of each day, Monday to Thursday, except Wednesday, the CCCB Vice President, the Most Reverend Lionel Gendron, P.S.S., Bishop of Saint-Jean-Longueuil, and the CCCB Co-Treasurer, the Most Reverend Anthony Mancini, Archbishop of Halifax-Yarmouth, review the day’s major topics and events. On Friday, the daily briefing will feature the President of the CCCB, the Most Reverend Douglas Crosby, O.M.I., and the Vice President, Bishop Gendron.