The Holy Mass for the Jubilee of Priests instituted as Missionaries of Mercy was celebrated on Sunday at the Basilica of Sant'Andrea della Valle in Rome.

Hundreds of “Missionaries of Mercy” — priests with the authority to “pardon sins reserved to the Holy See” (Misericordiae Vultus, 18) — gathered in Rome’s basilica dedicated to St. Andrew the Apostle to concelebrate Mass with Archbishop Rino Fisichella, pro-prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Evangelization.

In his homily, Archbishop Fisichella reminded the priests that they are “special instruments of reconciliation” who offer God’s great love to those who come to the sacrament of confession in search of forgiveness for their sins.

Archbishop Fisichella encouraged the priests to be confessors who open their hearts and minds to “welcome those who approach us” but to also go out in search of those who are still far from the Church.

Recalling the example of the merciful father who restores dignity to his prodigal son in St. Luke’s Gospel, Archbishop Fisichella said: “Love forgets sin, and forgiveness forces us to look directly to the future.”

The number of mercy-missionary priests continues to grow worldwide. To date, approximately 1,250 priests have been commissioned by the Vatican to embrace the call in Misericordiae Vultus to be “living signs of the Father’s readiness to welcome those in search of his pardon.”

Approximately 500 of these priests from around the world — commissioned during the 2016 Jubilee of Mercy — participated in a variety of spiritual and cultural activities as part of the 2025 Holy Year dedicated to hope, including training sessions held inside the Vatican and a pilgrimage through the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica.

The March 28-30 special jubilee concluded Sunday with a free symphonic concert of Missa Papae Francisci, composed by Ennio Morricone, in Rome’s Basilica of Sts. Ambrose and Charles on the Corso.