THE conclusion of the Jubilee Year of Mercy will be celebrated by Pope Francis with a special Mass of Thanksgiving in Saint Peter's Basilica.
The Mass will take place on the Solemnity of Christ, King on Sunday November 20.
The end of the Jubilee Year of Mercy will be marked in dioceses throughout the world on Sunday November 13, the thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time.
The jubilee opened in December last week to commemorate both the feast of the Immaculate Conception and the 50th anniversary of the closing of the Second Vatican Council.
The Pope marked the official start of a symbolic year for Catholics across the world, by opening the original Holy Door at St Peter's Basilica in Rome, for the first time since the turn of the century.
The aim of the Year of Mercy was to allow Catholics to show mercy and compassion and focus on forgiveness, reconciliation and doing good. The crossing of the threshold of a Holy Door is a sign of the passage from sin to grace.
In Armagh, a Holy Door was opened in St Patrick's Cathedral at the beginning of this Jubilee Year "and the door is a symbol of opening up to the fullness of God's love and we've all been invited to pass through it as a sign that we wish to experience God's mercy and take it to others".
Over the past year, many people have passed through the Door of Mercy and many pilgrims have done the Walk of Mercy in St Patrick's Cathedral. Many people have travelled from different parishes across the diocese and beyond and the many pilgrims have made the journey through the door and done the prayer walk in a spirit of openness to the loving mercy of God.
As St Patrick's comes close to the end of this Extraordinary Jubilee Year, people might like to consider visiting the Cathedral in the coming weeks and entering through the Holy Door and doing the Walk of Mercy before the Holy Door is closed by Archbishop Martin at the end of the 5.30pm Mass on Sunday November 20.
During the month of November when we remember all our dead, people might like to make the pilgrimage to the Cathedral and do The Walk of Mercy, to pray for the happy repose of their departed loved ones.
