How the Jubilee year and diocesan pastoral plan are intersecting with works of mercy

/in ,

Laura Keener

Editor

In June, Bishop John Iffert launched in the Diocese of Covington a Campaign of Mercy, an initiative of evangelization coming out of the With One Heart diocesan pastoral plan. As part of the Jubilee Year 2025, Pope Francis has announced that a person can receive as many as two indulgences a day by completing acts mercy. The Messenger sat down with Bishop Iffert to gather his thoughts on how the Holy Spirit may be working in the life of the local and universal Church through the theme of mercy.

Question: Even going back to the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy, Pope Francis was already writing about how service is a journeying to Christ, or a pilgrimage to the face of Christ. This year, Pope Francis is allowing for an indulgence for corporal works of mercy performed. How has the Bull (Pope Francis’ official pronouncement of the Jubilee Year) incorporated the corporal works of mercy as part of the Jubilee Year.

Bishop Iffert: On Christmas Eve, Pope Francis will inaugurate the Jubilee year 2025 in Rome by opening the first Jubilee door. He has chosen the motto of the Jubilee Year, Pilgrims of Hope, and it’s really interesting.

Unlike during the Year of Mercy, where he authorized Jubilee doors all over the world and you could receive the Jubilee indulgence just by passing through one of these doors and praying for the intentions of the Holy Father with all the usual requirements of receiving an indulgence, this year, he has not authorized those Jubilee doors in any diocese outside of Rome.

In one way, you might think, well, he’s really narrowed that offer of mercy, but what he’s really done is broaden this. What he’s doing is, he’s keeping the Jubilee doors and the connection to that indulgence in Rome. But then he’s allowing folks to be able to gain that indulgence in a variety of ways — by visiting any diocesan cathedral or by visiting any other historic church designated by the local bishop, or visiting any number of shrines or and this, I think is very important to us, in performing a work of mercy, especially for a person who is needy.

There is this wonderful sentence, and I’m paraphrasing, I believe it is the letter in which the pope establishes the indulgence for the Jubilee Year, and he says, whenever we spend time with a person who is in need doing a work of mercy for that person, we are entering on a pilgrimage to encounter the face of Christ in our neighbor. I just think that’s beautiful. That is a sentiment that I’m going to be living with for a long time and a truth that I’m going to be living with and teaching for a long time.

This pilgrimage of hope, where we emphasize hope, this virtue that is a kind of fortitude, a kind of an expression, a kind of courage lifted to a supernatural level, this hope that is certain and constant and that knows that God has a plan for us and is bringing it to good, this hope is connected with our acting in a loving and compassionate and merciful way to others.

We know that faith, hope and love they all blend. Faith and hope lead us into love and charity and mercy and compassion. Well, this is, this is the journey we’re on. We’re on this hope-filled journey, not only that God’s compassion will rule in our world, but that we will be made over in the image of that compassion and that mercy.

There are three great things that are happening this year for us here in the Diocese of Covington. One is the inauguration of the Jubilee year. We’re also completing the last year of the Eucharistic Revival, which is focused on walking with another in Eucharistic faith, accompanying another in Eucharistic faith. And then here locally, as part of our pastoral plan, we are inaugurating a Campaign of Mercy. We’re inviting Catholics to enter more fully into regular works of mercy, to make this a regular part, a monthly part, a weekly part, a daily part of our life to be doing works of mercy for those around us.

These kinds of great themes come together, to me, it all speaks of one thing, which is the Church is awakening to this reality that we are the mission of Jesus, the mission of Jesus to be mercy for the world, to be mercy for one another, to proclaim the kingdom and the mercy of the Father, the love that the Father has for each one of us. This is our mission.

Everything about these great celebrations and so much of what we find in our pastoral plan and everything that the Church speaks these days seems to be clarifying that and reinforcing that we’re the living mission of Jesus, and that that mission is a mission of mercy for everyone.

That’s what the point this Jubilee Year is making by connecting that pilgrimage motif with the theological virtue of hope and with the work of mercy. And I’m just inspired by it.

Question: You mentioned that the Campaign of Mercy, the Eucharistic Revival and now the Jubilee Year as having a common theme of serving and journeying with each other. That seems to me to be a work of the Holy Spirit. With the Campaign of Mercy, we’re using the corporal and spiritual works of mercy as tools for evangelization. Tell me more about that concept.

Bishop Iffert: In the Campaign of Mercy, that comes out of our pastoral plan, which came out of consultations with people at the grassroots level, what we’re doing is, we’re inviting, first, ourselves to enter into works of mercy so that we can be more deeply converted to Christ. Not only to do volunteer work, but to do it specifically as a work of mercy for another inspired by the love of Christ. In other words, we love Christ, and so we’re going to, in action, love our neighbor, especially our neighbor who is in need. We’re going to commit to that, and we’re going to live that way.

Then we’re going to do the next step, too, which is we’re going to reflect on that experience, both alone and with others, with other Catholics. We’re going to reflect on that. We’re going to ask ourselves, where did I encounter Jesus in my neighbor? Where did I encounter Jesus in this work of mercy? Where did I meet the crucified Jesus who suffers on the cross for us for mercy? Where did I meet that Jesus? And what is Jesus asking of me? What is that merciful Jesus asking of me in my attitude towards others? Then at some point, I’m going to invite people to say, okay, let’s reach out to someone who we know is a Catholic person, but who maybe isn’t as connected with the life of the Church, maybe isn’t as connected with this life of merciful care of others. Let’s invite this person to join us in doing that work of mercy and then join us in reflecting on it and encountering Jesus there. We’ll take that risk.

The whole idea, of course, is that we encounter Jesus in this way of life. And so, we’re going to invite people back to this way of life, trusting that they, too, will encounter Jesus there, and that meeting Jesus face to face in service to those who are in need, that that will be an impulse for conversion, for deeper conversion in Christ.

At some point, we’re going to, again, put out a call and say, okay, now think of somebody in your life who is not churched at all, who maybe even hasn’t heard much about Jesus, and invite them, take the risk of inviting them to do this work of mercy with you. And then maybe dare to invite them to pray with you about it. And again, the whole idea being that we believe that we will encounter Jesus in the face of our neighbors, and that that encounter with Jesus calls us to deepening conversion.

We’re going to employ this doing of these works of mercy, as a way to invite people to meet Jesus and to respond to His invitation to love others. It’s going to become really one of the great strategies for evangelization. That’s a 50-cent word that just literally means sharing the good news of Jesus, sharing the good news of Jesus with others. That’s going to be a primary strategy for us for three or four years of the Diocese of Covington. That’s a response to what we see as coming out, that it is this work of the Spirit.

Another thing, you said that all of this coming together really does seem like it’s the Holy Spirit. You know, there’s this theological concept, we speak of two offices in the Church — the magisterium, which is the teaching office, which is primarily the bishops around the world teaching in union with the Pope, but also, this office that we call the “sense of the faithful.”

The Church believes and proclaims that the whole body of believers cannot be misled. That the Holy Spirit speaks, yes, through our pastors, through the magisterium, but also in the body of believers. And that while individual believers can be misled, that the Holy Spirit dwells within the temple that is the whole Church. The whole Church, the temple of the people of God, cannot, as a body, be completely misled about the work of God and the movement of the Holy Spirit and the life of the Church, especially about anything that would jeopardize our salvation.

I really do think that this rediscovery that we’re the living mission of Jesus, we’re the living mission of the Spirit of Jesus, that we’re all called to carry on his mission of mercy, compassion, self-sacrifice, gifted self-donation, we’re all called to be that. I really do believe this is a sense where the Holy Spirit is inspiring the sense of the faithful and inspiring the magisterium towards the sense of truth to bring new life and new birth to the Church.

Question: You’ve said before about acts of service performed during the Campaign of Mercy and then here again with the indulgences, that we’re not doing these things to tick boxes. I often hear people say that when they’re involved in works of mercy that they get more out of the experience than what they give. How can acts of mercy, then, develop someone’s personal faith life?

Bishop Iffert: That’s exactly right. The Church does offer an indulgence for the Jubilee Year. Indulgences are an important category that bring not only a remission of sin, but also a healing of the effect of sin in our life, a healing of that destructive effect that sin can have on us.

An indulgence is not just a formality. It’s not a trick. It’s not a get-out-of-purgatory-early card, right? What is it? It is an expression of a desire for God’s grace to work in us in a direct and powerful way. To really change us and to help us to grow closer to the heart of Jesus. That’s what this is all about.

When we talk about the Jubilee indulgence, Pope Francis, another way he has made this is, he says you can receive an indulgence as often as twice a day during the Jubilee Year, as long as one of those you are applying not to yourself, but to the poor souls in purgatory — the suffering Church. This is the spirit. It’s not about bean counting. It’s not about adding up the number of days, right?

What is it about? It’s about inviting the Spirit of God to heal us and to draw us into deeper conformity with Christ. That is really what assures our salvation.

We believe that the more we live like Christ, the more the grace of God will be unleashed in our lives. That’s why we’re emphasizing this aspect of being part of the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. These are powerful actions that change us from the inside out; that help us to encounter Jesus. By entering into this pilgrimage to encounter Jesus in our neighbor, we’re making ourselves available so that Christ can meet us, that we can see him face to face, and that he can change us and heal us, and by healing us, heal our world. That’s what it’s all about.

The Processional Cross: a catechism of sacrifice and revelation

/in

Sir Stephen Enzweiler

Cathedral Historian

It has been a part of the Cathedral Basilica’s pontifical liturgies for decades. It is a golden, bejeweled work of sacred art carried by gloved crucifers in high ceremony and with great solemnity leading the entrance processions of each Pontifical Mass. It is a striking object, made of fine hammered gold and gold filigree, enameled inlays, and ensconced with precious and semi-precious stones.

It is the Episcopal Processional Cross of the Bishop of Covington. Also known as a “processional crucifix,” the cross is larger and heavier than most and dates back more than 70 years to 1953 and the episcopacy of Bishop William T. Mulloy. It was in that year that St. Mary’s Cathedral was elevated to the rank of Minor Basilica by Pope Pius XII. Bishop Mulloy, who was known for his predilection for highly decorative sacred art, commissioned the cross for the occasion.

It is said to have been made for him at the Benedictine Abbey of Maria-Laach in Germany. The cross is elaborately decorated on both sides. The front, or crucifix side, depicts the sacrificial themes of the Old and New Testaments, while the reverse, the Marian side, depicts symbols of Mary and themes related to Revelation and her Assumption and Coronation.

The crucifix side is dominated by the central figure of Jesus Christ in his sacrifice on the cross. Beneath his feet we see the serpent crushed in defeat by the victory of the cross. On either side of Christ’s head are depicted the sun and the moon, titles the Church has given to Jesus and Mary. The sun is the source of light, and Jesus is “the light of the world,” while Mary, like the moon, can only reflect the light of her son. Standing beneath the dying Jesus are the weeping figures of his mother and St. John the Evangelist.

At the ends of the cross are four enameled medallions illustrating sacrificial themes found throughout the Bible. At the top, Moses stands with the bronze serpent mounted on a pole, a reference to Numbers 21:9. Here Yaweh relents and heals the sin of his people, so that anyone bitten by a snake who gazes upon the bronze serpent would live. The passage also prefigures Jesus’ own crucifixion and promise of salvation: “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself” (Jn 12:32).

On the right is depicted the sacrifice of bread and wine offered by Melchizedek, the “priest of God Most High” (Gen 14:18). A messianic Psalm written by King David a thousand years later would compare the coming Messiah with Melchizedek: “You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek” (Ps 110:4). To the left, another medallion depicts Aaron holding a lamb in offering to God, reflecting the passage in Exodus 12 that describes the sacrifice during the Passover ritual. This ritual is repeated in the New Testament, where Jesus fulfills his role not only as high priest but as the Lamb of God who sacrifices himself for his people. A fourth medallion on the bottom speaks to us of the story of Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac. We see God’s hand reach out to stop him, pleased with Abraham’s unwavering faith.

Six kinds of precious and semi-precious stones ensconce the cruciform front. These include Chrysolite (a type of yellow quartz), Topazos, Calcedony, Beryl, Amethyst, and Chryoprase. Each stone was selected because each decorated the breastplate of the high priest Aaron in the Old Testament; they were also chosen because they are listed in Revelation as among the foundation stones in the New Jerusalem (Ex 28:15-30 & Rev 21:20). Encircling the figure of Jesus are twelve individual stones made of Beryl and Calcedony, a reference to the 12 stones of Aaron’s breastplate, the 12 tribes of Israel, 12 Apostles, and the 12 foundation stones in the New Jerusalem.

Inscribed on the round stem node beneath the cross is the promise of Christ himself: “I am the way, the truth, and the Life.”

The reverse side of the processional cross is devoted to Marian imagery and evokes her as the Mary of the Book of Revelation. In the center, surrounded by gold filigree and 12 semi-precious stones, she ascends in the glory of her Assumption and Coronation as the woman clothed with the sun, the sun and moon beneath her feet (Rev 12:1). Above her, two angels with the Holy Spirit gently place the crown of glory upon her head. Four gold medallions surround the scene with images of her royal titles: the New Ark of the Covenant, the Tower of David, Mystical Rose, and Gate of Heaven.

Together, both sides of the processional cross speak to Revelation history, the prophecy and prefigurement of the Old Testament revealed in the new sacrifice made in Christ and brought about through Mary, the premiere member of the Church whose Fiat brought about Emmanuel, God with us.

Bishop Iffert to lead Covington faithful on a pilgrimage to Rome during the jubilee year

/in

Bella Young

Multimedia Correspondent

“You shall treat this fiftieth year as sacred. You shall proclaim liberty in the land for all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, when each of you shall return to your own property, each of you to your own family.” (Leviticus 25:10)

The first mention of jubilee in the Bible is found in Leviticus — one of the five Books of Moses. Pope Boniface VII proclaimed the Church’s first ordinary Jubilee in 1300, with the intention for a Jubilee year to be celebrated every 100 years. Responding to requests to celebrate a Jubilee earlier, the second Jubilee was held 50 years later. The years between jubilees fluctuated until 1470 when Pope Paul II issued a Papal Bull fixing the Jubilee for every 25 years. The year 2025 will be the 28th jubilee year the Church has celebrated.

‘The practice of the jubilee year was originally meant as a time of “forgiveness and restoration of freedom from servitude and debt.” Bishop Iffert explained that though this was the original intention of the jubilee year there is not such a need for the everyday person to forgive someone of servitude or debt. The general spirit of forgiveness, however, remains true to this day.

“It is a time for mercy, a time of repentance, a time for being set free, a time for letting go of grudges … a time for deepening faith, seeking freedom, a time for letting God free us from grudges that we hold against one another,” said Bishop Iffert.

This theme of forgiveness and restoration is common throughout past jubilees as it is the biblically prescribed meaning of jubilee, but each jubilee has a special focus in addition to forgiveness. For the Great Jubilee of the year 2000, the theme focused on the anniversary of Jesus’ death; the theme for the extraordinary jubilee year of 2015 was mercy, and the theme for the 2025 jubilee year, as announced by Pope Francis, is Pilgrims of Hope.

“The focus by choosing that theme,” Bishop Iffert said, “the Pope has brought that tradition of pilgrimage together with the tradition of the jubilee year.”

It is the spirit of being pilgrims that the Diocese of Covington will be hosting a pilgrimage to Rome during the jubilee year. From October 22–30, Bishop Iffert will be leading a group of faithful from the diocese to Rome, living out the theme of jubilee year, Pilgrims of Hope.

During the pilgrimage, stops will include major historical sites such as the Holy Stairs, the tomb of St. Paul the Apostle, the catacombs underneath the church of St. Sebastian and the Sistine Chapel.

“There is something about an experience like that,” Bishop Iffert said, “where you come to incorporate that into your being — not just in an intellectual way, but in a bodily way … you stand in that space and that experience of that moment becomes part of your body. You can remember the smell of the air in that place, you can remember what it was like to be with others in that place and that is part of what fuels our hope.”

For those unable to spare nine days away from everyday life for a pilgrimage to Rome, the diocese is organizing several local pilgrimages, giving everyone the opportunity to be pilgrims of hope.

Visiting these historical sites reaffirms the message of hope says Bishop Iffert. “Hope is a kind of certainty, a kind of way of knowing. To be on a pilgrimage that way means we are going to rehearse living these nine days of our lives that way and allowing our confidence in our hope to be strengthened by remembering the places, letting those places help us to remember what God has done for us through people like St. Paul. It will allow us to have that sense of trust and belief.”

To learn more about the Jubilee year and the 2025 pilgrimage to Rome go to covdio.org/jubilee.

Bishop Iffert to lead a group of faithful from the diocese on a pilgrimage to Rome

/in

Bella Young

Multimedia Correspondent

A group of faithful from across the diocese will have the opportunity to join Bishop Iffert for a pilgrimage to Rome for the Jubilee 2025. For nine days, Oct. 22-30, in 2025 Bishop Iffert will be leading a pilgrimage to Rome, fulfilling the theme of the jubilee year — Pilgrims of Hope. Jim Hess, director of the office of Stewardship and Mission Services, says that the jubilee year is one of the primary reasons for this pilgrimage.

“The whole premise of this trip, the whole reason we’re doing this trip, is because of the Holy Year, to go to Rome together as a diocese,” said Mr. Hess.

For those able to attend, the nine-day itinerary is packed with visits to some of the Church’s oldest historical sites and the most iconic destinations in Rome. Pay your respects to St. Paul the Apostle at his resting place, venture beneath St. Sebastian Outside the Walls to the catacombs where you will be able to visit the tombs of early Christians, martyrs and saints. Attend a papal audience where you will be able to pray with Pope Francis, then explore the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s Basilica. While the majority of the pilgrimage will spent inside Rome, there is one day dedicated to visiting Assisi. There you will be able to see where St. Francis of Assisi spent most of his life.

Mr. Hess, when speaking about the itinerary said, “When we’re there we’ll be able to say the Angelus with Pope Francis at St. Peter Square which will be incredible. We’re essentially spending a vast majority of the time, like seven days, in Rome. We will get to see a lot of the beauty of the Catholic Church, of the early Church, and celebrate a jubilee year in Rome. We will take a day to visit Assisi so people can learn more about St. Francis, where he prayed and spent most of his time in ministry.”

While the attractions and experience of Rome are what make the nine-day pilgrimage exciting, the opportunity for a plenary indulgence is one that is “certainly going to be a part of our pilgrimage,” said Mr. Hess.

A plenary indulgence, as Mr. Hess explained, “removes the temporal punishment of sin as if you’re being baptized, it is a total cleansing of the person, a total forgiving of sin and its effects. It is only offered in special times and special situations and there are certain things you have to do and a certain disposition you have to have.”

One of the longest standing ways to obtain a plenary indulgence involves walking through designated Holy Doors which are only made available during jubilee years. Of these doors are the doors to St. Peter’s Basilica, St. John Lateran, St. Mary Major, and St. Paul Outside the Walls. All four of these basilicas will be visited throughout the pilgrimage, giving each pilgrim ample opportunity to take part in a tradition that has taken place since the 1400s.

For those that are unable to attend Rome and walk through the Holy Doors, there are ways to receive plenary indulgences from home. These include fasting, volunteering in your community, supporting religious or social works, offering support to migrants, the elderly, the poor, young people in difficulty and abandoned children. One of the best ways to receive a plenary indulgence is to perform a work of mercy, tying into Bishop Iffert’s Campaign of Mercy that launched this year on Corpus Christi Sunday.

For more information on the Holy Year pilgrimage to Rome, refer to the brochure that has been inserted or contact [email protected]. If you are interested in reserving your spot reach out to Mr. Hess or call Collette at (800)-581- 8942 Booking #1227991. Or visit the Diocese of Covington website, www.covdio.org.