Pope Francis has said that the upcoming Jubilee Year of Mercy would be a good time to increase the number of priests “on call” to bring emergency spiritual care to the sick and dying. He has also given a message of support to the Federation of Priestly Emergency Services, a group of laypeople who transport and accompany priests on their visits to those in extremis.
The Federation of Priestly Emergency Services was founded over 60 years ago by a Spanish lawyer who had been unable to find a priest to come to his dying son. It has a presence in Cordoba, Argentina and Ecuador.
Before his papacy, Pope Francis, as Fr Jorge Bergoglio, had belonged to a special service of priests, which was supported by the federation. In a letter to its president, Manuel Martin Sjoberg, the Pope wrote “The coming extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy is a good occasion for intensifying the collaboration between pastors and laypeople in the mission of supporting with affection and tenderly assisting the dying.” He added that Jesus said we would be judged by how we cared for the sick.
Earlier this month, Pope Francis requested that Padre Pio’s relics be exposed in St Peter’s Basilica on the Ash Wednesday of the Jubilee year, as “a precious sign for all missionaries and priests, who will find strength and support for their own mission in his admirable example of a untiring confessor, welcoming and patient, an authentic witness of the Mercy of the Father.”
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