Krakow, Poland, Jul 19, 2016 / 11:32 am (CNA).- Poland has been known as the heart of the Divine Mercy devotion since the 1930s and also boasts the homeland of the late Pope St. John Paul II.
This year, an additional spotlight has been shed on the country as it hosts World Youth Day amidst the Jubilee Year of Mercy, which is why the Knights of Columbus are sponsoring a site called “Mercy Centre” in the heart of Krákow to offer youth a multitude of different mercy-themed events.
“Pope Francis has declared mercy a key theme both for this year and for World Youth Day,” Supreme Knight Carl Anderson said in a recent press release.
“This is especially appropriate given the selection of Krákow as host city, since this is where devotion to Divine Mercy was born, and where St. John Paul II during his time there grew in this devotion, which became a major theme of his pontificate as well,” Anderson continued.
Mercy Centre will be open from July 26-31 and will be located at the Tauron Arena Krákow, one of Poland’s largest event centers seating over 20,000 people. It is also listed as one of the places that Pope Francis will visit during the July 25-31 celebration of World Youth Day.
Although open to everyone, Mercy Centre has been primarily crafted to offer young, English-speaking pilgrims a site where they can learn about mercy through prayer and catechetical formation from renowned speakers such as George Weigel, Curtis Martin, and Jason Evert. Daily Mass, confession, and adoration will also be offered.
“Mercy Centre is thus perfectly situated to help pilgrims understand that Christian life must be an experience of receiving mercy from God, and giving it also to our neighbors in the form of love, charity and forgiveness,” said Anderson.
Among the many events, Mercy Centre will host a “Night of Mercy” on the evening of July 27, featuring concerts from Matt Maher and Audrey Assad, and a series of talks by Bishop Robert Barron of Word on Fire Ministries and LifeTeen’s Joel Stepanek.
In addition, Mercy Centre will offer a variety of historical exhibits throughout the week, including information on Divine Mercy, Christianity in Poland, and Auschwitz, as well as vocational exhibits on marriage, diocesan priesthood and the religious life. Pilgrims will also be able to venerate the relics of Polish saints such as St. Maximilian Kolbe, St. John Paul II and St. Faustina Kowalska.
The site will also be used by the United States, Canadian and Australian conferences of Catholic bishops for their national gatherings.
Mercy Centre is sponsored by the Knights of Columbus, who have been involved in World Youth Day for the past 25 years and are celebrating the 10-year anniversary of their presence in the country of Poland.
Other co-sponsors of Mercy Centre include the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy, the Saint John Paul II National Shrine in Washington, D.C., the Sisters of Life, Salt + Light Television, Holy Cross Family Ministries, the Dominican Liturgical Institute, the National Conference of Religious Vocations Directors and the National Council of Diocesan Vocations Directors.
More information about Mercy Centre can be found at www.wydenglishsite.org.
Article Archive
Catechetical youth site aims to share mercy at World Youth Day
Related Articles • More Articles
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee speaks during the signing of the ELVIS Act to Protect Voice & Likeness in Age of AI event at Robert's Western World on March 21, 2024, in Nashville, Tennessee. / Credit: Jason Kempin/Getty Images for Human Artistry CampaignWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 18, 2024 / 14:15 pm (CNA).The first English-language translation of the Bible in the United States will become an "official state book" in Tennessee on July 1.Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican, signed a bill on Tuesday that names the Aitken Bible and nine other texts as official state books in the Tennessee Blue Book (an official manual on the state government). This is the first time Tennessee has formally recognized any official state books.The Bible translation was published by Philadelphia printer Robert Aitken in 1782 and received an official endorsement from Congress. The American Revolution, which began in 1776, halted trade with Great Britain and cut off the supply of Bibles, which prompte...
Cardinal Wilton Gregory speaks at an interview in Rome on April 11, 2024. / Credit: "EWTN News Nightly" screen shotRome Newsroom, Apr 18, 2024 / 15:00 pm (CNA).As the Catholic Church's first African American cardinal was honored at a U.S. seminary in Rome, he recalled the legacy of faith and perseverance of Black Catholics in America, including at a time when they were not accepted by U.S. seminaries. Cardinal Wilton Gregory, the archbishop of Washington, received this year's Rector's Award at an April 11 banquet at the Pontifical North American College, where seminarians from across 99 dioceses in the U.S. live while studying for the priesthood in Rome.In an interview with CNA before the award ceremony, Gregory pointed out that in the 19th century, African Americans who had a vocation to the priesthood were sent to study in Rome and then to serve as missionaries in Africa because at the time they were not allowed to enter U.S. seminaries."Being in Rome reminds me also tha...
Chaldean Patriarch Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako presides over the dedication ceremony of the altar of the Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Mosul, Iraq. April 5, 2024. / Credit: Fadi Dinkha/ACI MenaCNA Newsroom, Apr 18, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).When the altar of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Chaldean Catholic Church was consecrated earlier this month in Mosul, Iraq, a former parishioner now living in the United States said she was moved to tears."My eyes were filled with tears as I watched my church and my school return to the beautiful picture engraved in my memory," said Georgena Habbaba, who used to attend the parish and study at the parish school with her brothers. Her own children studied there, too, before the family had to flee Mosul amid worsening violence in 2007. (Note: Habbaba also writes for ACI Mena, CNA's Arabic-language news partner.)"I remembered the wonderful days I spent studying at this school and praying in this church. Very close to my family's house," she t...