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Mercy means witnessing to the faith through works

Meeting on the Works of Mercy in Europe today

Sarajevo, Bosnia Herzegovina, 15-18 September 2016

The meeting on the Works of Mercy in Europe today opens this evening in Sarajevo (Bosnia Herzegovina) with the celebration of Mass presided over by the city’s Archbishop, Cardinal Vinko Puljić. The meeting is being promoted by CCEE’s Caritas in Veritate Commission and the following church bodies working in Europe: Caritas Europa, Comece, Justice & Peace Europe Commission, FEAMC, ICMC, ICCPPC, FEBA, EZA and UNIAPAC.

“In the Year of Mercy, and along with this network of church bodies working in Europe, CCEE wanted to seize on this invitation from Pope Francis to demonstrate how an authentically lived faith is transformed into works and so become a response, in the most appropriate and effective manner, to the needs of all the people we meet daily”, said Mgr Duarte da Cunha, CCEE General Secretary, in outlining the nature of the meeting. He continued: “In fact, there is a close link between faith, the evangelising mission of the Church and the works of charity. These church bodies witness to it daily through their service of the most needy. In fact, for Christians is not possible to think of charity (mercy at work) without faith: it would be like reducing the church institution to a simple NGO, nor is it possible to think of faith without charity: it would be like reducing faith to a disincarnated perspective. Instead, faith needs works: the Mercy of God tells us this”.

The meeting will continue until Sunday 19 September with opportunities for reflection and testimony, aimed at showing how at the centre of the Church’s activity is the human person always in need of God’s love.

During the meeting, the church bodies active in Europe will testify to how they live out mercy each day and how they intend to give witness to it through their works. There are brief interviews with them on CCEE’s YouTube channel.... (from 16.09).

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Misericordiae Vultus, 15

“It is my burning desire that, during this Jubilee, the Christian people may reflect on the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. It will be a way to reawaken our conscience, too often grown dull in the face of poverty. And let us enter more deeply into the heart of the Gospel where the poor have a special experience of God’s mercy”.

CCEE’s Caritas in Veritate Commission

Inspired by Pope Benedict XVI’s Encyclical Caritas in Veritate, the CCEE Commission of the same name oversees the establishment of a network enabling the promotion of a truthful examination of social issues present in the continent, as well as supporting initiatives organised by the Bishops’ Conferences and by the different church institutions and bodies present in Europe. The Commission is currently chaired by His Grace Mgr Giampaolo Crepaldi, Archbishop of Trieste.

Participating organisations which will provide their own testimonies

Catholic bodies working in Europe who will report in the course of the meeting include:

Caritas Europa, Comece (Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Community), Justice & Peace Europe Commission, FEAMC (European Federation of the Catholic Medical Associations), ICMC (International Catholic Migration Commission), ICCPPC (International Commission of Catholic Prison Pastoral Care – European section), FEBA (European Federation of Food Banks), EZA (European Centre for Worker’s Questions), UNIAPAC (International Christian Union of Business Executives).

The works of mercy

More than a “duty”, a rule or an obligation, for the Christian the works of mercy are above all an invitation and the possibility for the human person to experience and participate in God’s mercy thorugh his or her relationship with the other person, especially in tackling the different “spiritual and corporal” poverty of those around us. In the light of Jesus’ teaching as attested in particular by Matthew 25, Catholic tradition has then summarised into 7 corporal works of mercy (to feed the hungry; to give drink to the thirsty; to clothe the naked; to shelter the homeless; to visit the sick; to visit prisoners; and to bury the dead) and 7 works of spiritual mercy (counselling the doubtful; instructing the ignorant; admonishing the sinner; comforting the sorrowful; forgiving injuries; bearing wrongs patiently; praying for the living and the dead) that infinity of expressions and manifestations of Mercy, which can never in fact be contained in a list.

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Media information

Access to the meeting venue

The meeting is open to accredited journalists apart from the visit to the five works of charity. The meeting will take place at:

Sarajevo Clergy House

Svećenički dom

Josipa Stadlera 11 - 71 000 Sarajevo

There will be free Wireless connection at the meting venue.

Interviews with speakers and participants during the breaks can be arranged through CCEE’s Media Officer.