Divine Mercy Sunday

THE DEVOTION to Divine Mercy was popularised by the 20th-century Polish nun, Saint Faustina Kowalska, as requested to her by Jesus in visions and conversations. Saint Pope John Paul II instituted Divine Mercy Sunday on the occasion of the canonisation of St Faustina on April 30, 2000, the second Sunday after Easter, thus opening the devotion and the feast of Divine Mercy to the universal Church. This year, the feast of Divine Mercy was celebrated on the Sunday after Easter.

From his early years, Pope John Paul II had an ardent devotion to Divine Mercy, as promoted by Sister Faustina, who died in 1938 at the age of 33 in Krakow, where Karol Wojtyla was to become archbishop, cardinal, and was later elected Pope in 1978.

Pope John Paul II, who beatified Sister Faustina on April 18, 1993, the Sunday after Easter, died on April 2, 2005, the eve of the Sunday after Easter. John Paul II himself was beatified on May 1, 2011, Divine Mercy Sunday, and declared a saint on April 27, 2014, also Divine Mercy Sunday.

In an apostolic letter issued on the occasion of Divine Mercy Sunday, April 7, 2002, Pope John Paul II granted indulgences to Catholics who go to confession, receive communion and recite specific prayers on that day. Subsequently, this was formally decreed by the Apostolic Penitentiary.

Today, the devotion to Divine Mercy is widespread across the world. Churches and shrines dedicated to Divine Mercy have sprang up across the world, most important, the Divine Mercy Shrine in Krakow which houses the remains of Saint Faustina.