By Archbishop Thomas Wenski - The Archdiocese of Miami
From Aug. 27-30, Archbishop Thomas Wenski will be among 15 cardinals, 120 bishops and 400 priests, religious and lay people participating in the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy on the American Continent, a conference taking place in Bogota, Colombia. The meeting opened Saturday, Aug. 27, with a 32-minute video address from Pope Francis. Archbishop Wenski has agreed to share his experience with Catholics in South Florida via this blog.
Saturday | "The Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy on the American continent" began this morning with a stirring talk by Pope Francis (via video).
Photographer: COURTESY | Archbishop Wenski
Standing together at the opening session of the conference on the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy on the American Continent, from left: Cardinal Marc Ouellette of Montreal, president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America; Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, and Cardinal Ruben Salazar of Bogota.
Also present this morning was the Colombian president, Juan Manuel Santos, who spoke about the recently signed peace accords which he saw as a providential fruit of the Year of Mercy. And the cardinal of Bogota, Ruben Salazar, welcomed our presence as a witness to mercy in a country that wants to put an end to violence and, through mercy and pardon, forge a future of hope in justice and peace.
Later in the morning, Archbishop Rino Fisichella, Pope Francis' point man for the new evangelization, spoke.
While we did listen to a number of talks, both Cardinal (Marc) Ouellette (of Montreal) as well as Pope Francis insisted that this gathering of more than 250 cardinals, bishops, priests, religious and laity was not just another conference or meeting but rather a celebration of the Jubilee of Mercy.
This celebratory aspect of the gathering will be more apparent this afternoon. (I write during a short recess "for a siesta.") This afternoon, the participants will "process" from the hotel to the relatively nearby Basilica of Our Lady of Lourdes — there we will "celebrate." First, we will liturgically celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation and then our inaugural Eucharist presided by Cardinal Ouellette.
In his talk, Pope Francis gave a profound meditation on 1 Timothy 12-16. St. Paul reminds Timothy that "the Lord has treated him with mercy." The pope urged us to call to memory that the Lord has also treated each one of us with mercy.
This is "our reality" he insisted. The richest expression of reality as well as the clearest exposition of doctrine is simply this: being sinners, the Lord has treated us with mercy. To recall our sinfulness is not so that we make of ourselves again victims of our sins, nor that we justify ourselves for our sins, nor that we "glorify" them. Rather, if we recall this history, it is so that we can praise the love that has found us.
So here I am in Bogota, not attending just another meeting but a continental celebration in which there is opportunity for reflection, prayer, the interexchange of experiences and renewed conversion of heart and mind.
Photographer: COURTESY | Archbishop Wenski
Polish connections in Bogota: Archbishop Thomas Wenski poses for a selfie with Ricardo Grzona, an Argentinian of Polish descent now living in Miami and working as director of the Ramon Pane Foundation, which promotes the use of Lectio Divina in parishes and families; a Polish Franciscan working in La Paz, Bolivia; and a Polish seminarian with the Neocatechumenal Way who studies in Bogota.
