This letter was published in NZ Catholic, June 30, with – quelle horreur! – a split infinitive, introduced by the sub …  

In his book Rise, Let Us Be On Our Way, Blessed John Paul II cites the question asked of bishops at their ordination: ‘Are you resolved to be faithful in your obedience to the successor of the Apostle Peter?’

In regard to Divine Mercy, obedience to Peter’s successor requires bishops at least announce this Solemnity, granted to the Universal Church by the ‘Great Mercy Pope’, and preach on God’s mercy and the forgiveness of sins at every  Mass that day. Obedience to the Law of the Gospel surely requires them also to honour Christ’s demand  that they venerate the image, by means of which the Lord promised ‘many graces to souls’ – one, remarkably, being John Paul’s death on the Vigil of Divine Mercy - and ensure their priests hear the call of the lay priesthood for its veneration, in their churches.

Divine Mercy may have little appeal for sophisticates, but we must ‘live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly’ (Romans 12:15).

Pray for our bishops, that they will be faithful in honouring Divine Mercy as, in Blessed John Paul’s words, ‘the appropriate answer to the questions of our time, marked by terrible tragedies’.

 

Julia du Fresne