In his homily on 30th April 2000 John Paul II said, “by this act today, I pass on the message of Divine Mercy to the new millennium. I pass it on because I want people to know the better face of God, and that of his Divine Mercy, and through it, the better face of their brethren. The light of the message of Divine Mercy which the Lord wished to renew in the world, will be as much a beacon of hope for the third millennium, as the apostles were in the first”.
He said that in future the Sunday after Easter would be known through out the world as Divine Mercy Sunday. The Feast of Divine Mercy is therefore not a private devotion anymore. It is now a public feast formally established by Pope John Paul II, with approval from three Vatican Congregations. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Congregation for Divine Worship, and the Congregation for the Cause of Saints.
This approval was given to the Church on the 5th May 2000 in the Decree, issued by the Congregation for Divine Worship, and the Discipline of the Sacraments. and it will be celebrated in the Vatican as an official feast day, on the Sunday after Easter every year from now on. Clearly the Pope himself is eager for the Church every where, to formally celebrate the Feast of Divine Mercy, but it is up to the bishops to establish it as a liturgical feast day, in each country.
