Pope Francis Releases New Book; Urged Christians To Be Merciful

Pope Francis launched the new book entitled The Name of God Is Mercy, at the Vatican on Tuesday as the Catholic Church welcomes the Holy Year of Mercy.

Said to be a 100-page compilation of his conversations with Italian journalist Andrea Tornielli, the book wants to convey that mercy is essential in the Christian life. The book will be published and distributed to 86 countries after its launching, according to Yahoo News.

"We must avoid the attitude of someone who judges and condemns from the lofty heights of his own certainty, looking for the splinter in his brother's eye while remaining unaware of the beam in his own. Let us always remember that God rejoices more when one sinner returns to the fold than when 99 righteous people have no need of repentance," Pope Francis.

The Pope further challenge the so-called 'scholars of law' throughout the church's history who easily condemned people labelling them as sinners and prophesied Jesus' fathomless mercy even for the 'most wretched' sinner.

"These are men who live attached to the letter of the law but who neglect love; men who only know how to close doors and draw boundaries," the head of the Catholic church said.

In the book, Francis also talks about his stand on current issues on gay marriages and annulments which contradicts the Catholic's Church's initial description of same-sex marriage as 'objectively disordered.'

"I am glad that we are talking about 'homosexual people' because before all else comes the individual person, in his wholeness and dignity. And people should not be defined only by their sexual tendencies: let us not forget that God loves all his creatures and we are destined to receive his infinite love," the Pope said as mentioned in Think Progress.

As for annulment, the Pope gives an open-mind perspective further emphasizing the importance of confession among couples in annulled marriages.

"I have a niece who was married to a man in a civil wedding before he received the annulment of his previous marriage. They wanted to get married, they loved each other, they wanted children, and they had three. The judge had even awarded him custody of the children from his first marriage. This man was so religious that every Sunday, when he went to Mass, he went to the confessional and said to the priest, 'I know you can't absolve me but I have sinned by doing this and that, please give me a blessing.' This is a religiously mature man," he said in a report from USA Today.

Pope Francis progressive ideas have previously met oppositions from other church leaders who said that if people sinned, they cannot receive the holy sacraments of the Church. In answer to that, the Pope has conducted a two-year study on current issues and is expected to give a decision this year.