Dives in Misericordia - Background For The Encyclical

Background For The Encyclical

The idea of God's mercy is an intensely personal one for John Paul II. He had a strong love for the Divine Mercy, a devotion revealed by his fellow Pole, Sister Faustina Kowalska (b.1905 - d.1938), a devotion that he later instituted for the entire Catholic Church in 2000 as Divine Mercy Sunday during the vigil of which, in 2005, he died. He told his biographer George Weigel that he felt spiritually "very near" to Sister Faustina when he began the encyclical.

Pope John Paul II's second encyclical continues to examine the world problems brought up in his first encyclical, Redemptor Hominis, including rising militarization, tyranny, starvation, and daily problems of personal life. He teaches that the only authentic Christian response to these rising problems is through love informed by God's mercy, especially as revealed in the love of the Father in the Trinity.