On the eve of Divine Mercy Sunday, Pope Francis asked for dioceses around the world to establish memorials that will serve as “a living memory” of the Year of Mercy.

Aleteia is reporting on the surprise announcement which came during a Saturday evening prayer vigil in St. Peter’s Square this weekend. Francis expressed his desire that “a hospital, a home for the elderly, for abandoned children, a school where none exists, a home for the recovery of addicts,” or some similar structure be established in every diocese as “a living memory” of the Year of Mercy.

Francis revealed that the idea came to him during a meeting with directors of a charitable agency and he decided that he would share it during his address in the Square on Saturday night.

During his talk, he told pilgrims that “a faith that cannot be merciful, as the Lord’s wounds were a sign of mercy, is not faith: it is an idea, an ideology.”

He went on to remind them of the many expressions of God’s mercy that touch our lives every day, such as closeness and tenderness, compassion and solidarity, consolation and forgiveness.

“The more we receive, the more we are called to share it with others; it cannot be kept hidden or kept only for ourselves,” he said.

At the end of his address, he told the faithful that “there are so many things that could be done” to remember this Year of Mercy and allow it to live on in the Church and throughout the world.

“It would be very good for each diocese to consider: what can we leave as a living memory, as a work of living mercy, as a wound of the living Jesus for this Year of Mercy? Let us reflect on this and speak to the bishops about it. Thank you.”

Click here to read the Pope’s full address.

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