Ukrainian Icon "Doors of Mercy" brought to Rome for Jubilee

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis requested the ancient Ukrainian icon "Doors of Mercy" to be brought to the Vatican for the opening of the Jubilee Year of Mercy. This icon, which combines both Western and Eastern traditions, is particularly symbolic and encourages all Christians to unity and peace for the sake of charity.

The Icon was met at the airport by the Ambassador of Ukraine to the Holy See, Tatyana Izhevska; and Ambassador of Poland to the Holy See, Piotr Nowina-Konopka; and representatives from the Vatican.

The image of the Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ, which dates from the seventeenth century, comes from the cathedral of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in the Polish city of Jaroslaw. The icon, which takes its name from the Byzantine Lenten liturgical text, "Open the Doors of Mercy to me, O Mother of God." is considered miraculous and was given a crown by St. John Paul II in 1996.

A copy of of the icon is also found in the Argentinian church belonging to Pope Francis' former spiritual director, Ukrainian Catholic priest Fr. Stephan Chmil, who was later made a bishop.