There will be more than
1,000 'missionaries of mercy' instead of the planned 800 due to
overwhelming demand, Holy Year coordinator Monsignor Rino
Fisichella said Friday.
The missionaries, who will now number 1,071, will be sent
by the Pope to dioceses across the world to hear the testimony
of people who are seeking forgiveness.
They will all be priests and will have the power to absolve
sins.
"Initially the idea was to involve retired bishops," said
Fisichella.
"But then we were overwhelmed with requests from priests,
and the decision was made to favour the latter, otherwise we
would have had to exclude some of them.
"And since the Pope wants priests to once again be present
for confessions, this justifies the decision to choose them".
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