The Worship of Divine Mercy in Light of the Teaching of Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis

Abstract

The two most recent Popes – Benedict XVI and Francis – have continued John Paul II’s emphasis on Divine Mercy. Each provides a particular emphasis, which results in a different manner of worshipping Divine Mercy. While each emphasize the entirety of salvation history as revealing Divine Mercy, with its climax in Jesus Christ, Pope Francis more often speaks of mercy so as to avoid a theory of mercy that is not put into practice. One such manner of implementing mercy is the addition of new mysteries of mercy to the Rosary. While this has no support from the papal magisterium of Pope Benedict, it does find support in Pope Francis’ desire to find ways for mercy to penetrate ever more into the daily attitudes and actions of Christians. Even so, care must be taken to frame such a change in the veneration of Divine Mercy within a proper theology that highlights the presence of Divine Mercy in the pre-existing mysteries, particularly that the Incarnation and the Paschal Mystery.