160 side on Wednesday morning, April 2, the third anniversary of the pious death of the Servant of God John Paul II. Let us place the Congress under the heavenly protection of Mary Most Holy, Mater Misericordiae (Regina Caeli message, the Second Sunday of Easter” [Divine Mercy Sunday], March 30, 2008). The Holy Father emphasized that he would inaugurate the Congress by presiding at Holy Mass for the Servant of God John Paul II, on the third anniversary of his death. He also stated that at the Congress, “there will be a special refl ection on Divine Mercy,” pointing to the manner in which the Congress would delve into the mystery of God’s mercy. Further, he invoked Mary’s “heavenly protection” over the Congress under her title as the “Mother of Mercy” (Mater Misericordiae), a title which refers to her special role in the mystery of Divine Mercy. Although more than 40,000 people gathered in St. Peter’s Square on April 2, 2008, for Holy Mass on the third anniversary of the death of Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI, in his homily, singled out the nearly 4,000 delegates who were present for the opening of the World Mercy Congress: “I address a special thought to the participants of the fi rst World Congress on Divine Mercy, which is opening this very day and which intends to deepen [Pope John Paul II’s] rich Magisterium on the subject. God’s mercy, as he himself said, is a privileged key to the interpretation of his Pontifi cate. He wanted the message of God’s merciful love to be made known to all and urged the faithful to witness to it” (cf. Homily at Krakow-Lagiewniki, August 17, 2002). There are three aspects to the Holy Father’s remarks. First, he said that one of the principal aims of the World Mercy Congress would be “to deepen” Pope John Paul II’s rich papal or magisterial teachings on the subject of God’s mercy. Here, one thinks of Pope John Paul II’s second encyclical, Rich in Mercy (Dives in Misericordia), especially his insightful exposition of how the parable of the Prodigal Son reveals that God the Father is “rich in mercy.” Second, Pope Benedict XVI spoke of the way Pope John Paul II himself described God’s mercy as “a privileged key to the interpretation of his Pontifi cate.” In these remarks, Pope Benedict XVI may well have been referring to Pope John Paul II’s visit to the tomb of then Blessed Faustina at the Shrine of The Divine Mercy in Łagiewniki, Poland, on June 7, 1997. During that visit, Pope John Paul II made these poignant remarks: “I come here to commend the concerns of the Church and of humanity to the merciful Christ. On the threshold of the third millennium, I come to entrust to Him once more my Petrine ministry — «Jesus, I trust in You!»” The message of Divine Mercy has always been near and dear to me. It is as if history had inscribed it in the tragic experience of World War II. In those diffi cult
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