PRESS RELEASE: Jubilee for those who are ill and disabled
June 10th begins the Jubilee for those who are ill and disabled
A Festival open to all on Saturday the 11th
Mass with the Pope on Sunday morning
Going above and beyond, is the wish and also the daily life of many of our friends who with great enthusiasm wish to reiterate this concept by participating in the great Jubilee event scheduled for June 10-12. Going above and beyond is the theme of the Festival of Welcome which will be held on Saturday afternoon in the Gardens of Castel Sant’Angelo. In these Gardens from 14:00-21:00 one will be able to visit the “Tents of Mercy” in which various associations of volunteers will share their unique experience in the world of disease and disability. The Festival will begin at 18:00 with free admission and with the special participation of the orchestra of the Arma dei Carabinieri. The Festival, hosted by the television and radio personality Rudy Zerbi and by the blind singer Annalisa Minetti, will be an occasion of joyful celebration wherein entertainers will include those who are ill and disabled performing alongside singers, dancers, and magicians, including Alessandra Amoroso, Silvan, Simona Atzori, Bebe Vio, Nicole Orlando and Stefano Oradei.
On Sunday morning, June 12th in St. Peter’s Square, to prepare for the Holy Mass to be celebrated by Pope Francis at 10:30, there will be songs and readings presented by those who are disabled and ill and which will be interspersed by a number of testimonies entitled, “When I am weak, I am strong”. The celebration, which can be followed in live streaming around the world on the Jubilee website (www.im.va) and which will be translated into sign-language, will be enhanced by the recognition of a few special points. Those serving the Mass and reading will be persons with disabilities. In addition, for the first time in St. Peter’s Square, the reading of the Gospel will be enacted by a group of persons with disabilities in order that the text may be understood especially by those with cognitive disabilities. There is great anticipation for this Eucharistic Celebration to which all are invited. In order to facilitate participation, free tickets are available at the Pilgrimage Welcome Center located on via della Conciliazione 7.
This great Jubilee event will open on the afternoon of Friday, June 10th with the pilgrimage through the Holy Door of St. Peter’s. From 15:30 until 18:30, in the Church of Santa Maria in Vallicella one will be able to participate in Eucharistic Adoration and receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation, while at 17:00 a catechesis will be given, entitled “Mercy, the Source of Joy”, by the Redemptorist Father Cyril Axelrod, who has ministered particularly to those unable to hear, unable to hear and to see, the blind, and those with visual impairments. The catechesis will be translated into International Sign Language and in Tactile Sign Language. On the following day, Saturday, June 11th, in all of the Jubilee Churches, as well as the Church of S. Andrea della Valle, it will possible to participate once again in Eucharistic Adoration and to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation, up until the start of the catecheses, which will be given in those same churches. The catecheses will last about an hour and will be based on the theme “Mercy, the Source of Joy”. In the Church of Santa Maria in Vallicella the catechesis will be given in Italian at 11:00 by the Most Reverend Luigi Marrucci, Bishop of Civitavecchia. At 10:00 in the Church Sant’Andrea della Valle, the symbolic catechesis in Italian will be given by the Most Reverend Gerard Daucourt, the Bishop Emeritus of Nanterre. In the Church of San Salvatore in Lauro, at 11:00, the catechesis will be given in English by Archbishop Arthur Roche, the Secretary for the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. Finally, at 11:00 in the Church of San Giovanni dei Fiorentini, the catechesis will be given in Spanish by Archbishop Octavio Ruiz Arenas, the Secretary of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization
In conclusion, on the occasion of this great Jubilee event, there will be a special initiative sponsored by the Med Tag foundation. Beginning on Friday, June 10th and concluding at the closing of these three intense days, in the area of the four Papal Basilicas there will be Health Points which will offer free, especially to the many homeless in the City, specialized health assistance. Medical specialists and health care professionals will be available for general medicine, dermatology, breast-care, pediatrics, and gynecology.
For information: www.im.va
info@im.va