Sixth Day
The Petrine Ministry of Mercy
In the name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
A reading from the Encyclical Ut unum sint by Pope Saint John Paul II
As the heir to the mission of Peter in the Church, which has been made
fruitful by the blood of the Princes of the Apostles, the Bishop of Rome
exercises a ministry originating in the manifold mercy of God… The
authority proper to this ministry is completely at the service of God’s
merciful plan and it must always be seen in this perspective. Its power is
explained from this perspective. Associating himself with Peter’s threefold
profession of love, which corresponds to the earlier threefold denial, his
Successor knows that he must be a sign of mercy. His is a ministry of
mercy, born of an act of Christ’s own mercy… The Church of God is called
by Christ to manifest to a world ensnared by its sins and evil designs that,
despite everything, God in his mercy can convert hearts to unity and enable
them to enter into communion with him. (nos. 92-93)
Pause for silent prayer.
Pray one Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be.
Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord.
— And let perpetual light shine upon him.
Grant, we pray, almighty God,
that the soul of your departed servant Pope Francis,
to whom you committed the care of your family,
may, with the manifold fruit of his labors,
enter into the eternal gladness of his Lord.
Who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.
