Pontifical council publishes booklet for ‘24 Hours for the Lord’ confession initiative

The Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization has published a 63-page pastoral guide for the “24 Hours for the Lord” initiative, in which dioceses designate churches where confessions are heard for an entire day around the Fourth Sunday of Lent.

In his November 2016 apostolic letter concluding the jubilee of mercy, Pope Francis wrote that “the Sacrament of Reconciliation must regain its central place in the Christian life … A favorable occasion for this could be the 24 Hours for the Lord, a celebration held in proximity to the Fourth Sunday of Lent. This initiative, already in place in many dioceses, has great pastoral value in encouraging a more fervent experience of the sacrament of Confession.”