This year, the fiftieth anniversary of the close of the Second Vatican Council will mark the beginning of a jubilee called by Pope Francis in response to the cries of pain from the victims of a violent and unjust world In a world full of violence and injustice, mercy has been urged as the answer to its troubles by three successive popes. From John Paul II, who started the worldwide dissemination of the message of Divine Mercy, to Benedict XVI, who described mercy as the central nucleus of the Gospel message, and on to Francis, who has announced 2016 as a Holy Year, a Jubilee Year of Mercy, the three popes of the twenty-first century have urged the people of God to turn their faces to the God of compassion.“This is the time of mercy. It is important that the lay faithful live it and