The “Year of Mercè” has ended in Barcelona. This diocesan project dedicated to the city’s patron has achieved its objective of sensitising the faithful to “slavery today”. The Year was celebrated in tandem with the 8th centenary of the Order of Mercenaries, founded in the Catalan capital, and was a pretext to enable many faithful to get to know the urban basilica of the Mercè, still unfamiliar to many Christians in the area. The objectives achieved also include the first experience of re-insertion in the community of prisoners who are able to spend the weekends at liberty in the homes of Catholics who extend hospitality to them. A Fraternity of Mercè was also established to promote the integration of their families. For the time being it is able to provide small bursaries to pay for the board and education of children and the upkeep of homes. The Order was founded by St. Pere Nolasc in the cathedral of Barcelona in 1203, with the precise aim of redeeming captives, especially prisoners from North Africa. On many occasions ‘mercenaries’ exchanged their life for that of prisoners. After the abolition of slavery, their work continued and still does so today, as the historian and member of the Order Joaquin Millàn explains: “Slavery ended in 1779, but we continue to find other forms of slavery today: prisoners, immigrants…”
