Archbishop William Slattery inaugurated the extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy announced by the Pope Francis in March 2015 at a service at the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Pretoria on Sunday afternoon, 13 December. He did so by opening special symbolic ‘Door of Mercy’, a ceremony which has been echoed at major cathedrals and churches throughout the world.
“I have decided to announce an Extraordinary Jubilee which has at its centre the mercy of God. It will be a Holy Year of Mercy. We want to live in the light of the word of the Lord: “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful” (cf. Lk 6:36). And this especially applies to confessors! So much mercy! This Holy Year will commence on the next Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception and will conclude on Sunday, 20 November 2016, the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe and living face of the Father’s mercy.”
Pope Francis, Misericordiae Vultus