The sixth World Apostolic Congress on Mercy opens in Vilnius on Sunday, with Archbishop Metropolitan Gintaras Grušas expecting more than five thousand believers from countries across the globe to attend.
"This is truly the first time a Vatican-organised world event has taken place in Lithuania," the archbishop told a press conference on Thursday.
Some of those arriving will stay in hotels, whilst others will be hosted by local residents in their homes. Organisers are encouraging Lithuanian believers to stay with relatives living in Vilnius.
The congress runs until June 12. Its theme – Building a City of Mercy – invites participants to reflect on the mission of believers to create communities in which indifference and individualism give way to sensitivity towards others "through concrete acts of love, word and prayer", according to organisers.
The programme includes conferences, workshops, personal testimonies, services, praise gatherings, pilgrimages, and themed tours of Vilnius, as well as mercy-focused community initiatives across the city and a festival for young people.
The main congress events will take place on Saviour's Hill in Vilnius, beside the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus – a site of particular significance to Catholics, as it was home to communities of Missionary, Visitandine, and Vincentian sisters, and where the first image of the Divine Mercy was painted in 1934.
During the Soviet era, the Visitandine convent and the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus were converted into a prison. Today, organisers say, the Congress of Mercy is returning the site to its role as a place of prayer, reconciliation, and hope.
"We encourage people to discover these places in the context of this event – to look at Saviour's Hill not as the site of a former prison, not as a former hospital, but as places that bear witness to mercy; places that become symbols for us of how to speak about mercy today," said congress coordinator Inesa Čaikauskienė.
Archbishop Grušas emphasised that Vilnius holds particular significance in the context of mercy, as it was home to Saint Faustina Kowalska and her confessor Blessed Michael Sopoćko, where the first image of the Merciful Jesus was painted, and where the Divine Mercy Chaplet prayer was dictated.
More than a hundred speakers will take part in the congress.
Special attention will also be given to young people during the event. Matas Macevičius, coordinator of the youth festival, said he had noticed a growing interest in faith among younger generations.
Pilgrims, evangelisers, clergy, and community leaders from more than 50 countries are expected to attend.
"More and more people are responding to our activities, coming in search of various things, fundamental and authentic things: security, stability, genuine and lasting friendships. Many testify that they find these things in the Church. We see this Congress of Mercy above all as an opportunity to offer all those young people who want something, who are searching, one more experience of faith," he said.
World Apostolic Congresses on Mercy are held every three years. Previous editions have taken place in Rome in 2008, Kraków in 2011, Bogotá in 2014, Manila in 2017, and Apia, Samoa, in 2023.
The Vilnius congress is organised by the Holy See's Dicastery for Evangelisation together with the Archdiocese of Vilnius.
