Addressing pilgrims at the official opening and blessing of the Mother of Mercy Shrine, the Archbishop of Johannesburg said the Magaliesburg Marian Shrine “will become a place of reconciliation,” where one can experience the “unconditional love” of Mother Mary.

“For many of us who will make it a habit to visit this Shrine of Magaliesburg, the purpose will be to experience a heavenly mother’s unconditional love again – even if we ourselves are old and our earthly mothers are elsewhere,” said Archbishop Buti Joseph Tlhagale OMI at the end of the blessing of the Mother of Mercy Shrine on Saturday, April 27.

Archbishop Tlhagale continued, “We will come here because our hearts long to be drowned in Mother Mary’s love.  This Shrine will become a place of reconciliation; of mending broken hearts; a place of deep-seated peace; a place of spiritual healing; a place where small miracles will take place.”

Eight Bishops, clergy, religious men and women, together with thousands of pilgrims gathered in Magaliesburg for the blessing and opening of the Marian Shrine which according to Archbishop Tlhagale OMI is meant to “be a warm welcoming home away from home,” and “a place of refuge from a world of harsh discrimination, of hate, of jealousy, and from a world where human hearts are simply cold.”

In a conversation with the Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference (SACBC) Communication Office, the Local Ordinary of Kimberly Diocese commended Archbishop Tlhagale OMI for heeding Pope Francis’s appeal during the Jubilee of Divine Mercy prayer vigil.

“How beautiful it would be to have as a reminder, a memorial as it were, in every diocese during this Year of Mercy, an institutional expression of mercy: a hospital, a home for the elderly, for abandoned children, a school where none exists, a home for the recovery of addicts… There are so many things that could be done… It would be very good for each diocese to consider: what can we leave as a living memory, as a work of living mercy, as a wound of the living Jesus for this Year of Mercy? Let us reflect on this and speak to the Bishops about it,” said Pope Francis on April 2, 2016.

Bishop Duncan Theodore Tsoke who served as Auxiliary Bishop of Johannesburg Archdiocese told the SACBC communication office that the Mother of Mercy Shrine will also be a place of prayer for neighbouring dioceses.

Meanwhile, Bishop Robert Mogapi Mphiwe of Rustenburg Diocese called on the people of God to continue supporting the Archdiocese for the completion of the Sanctuary.

The opening and blessing of the Mother of Mercy Shrine on the day South Africa celebrated 30 years of democracy saw the attendance of pilgrims from all cultural denominations making it a rainbow nation celebration. Among those gathered at the Magaliesburg Marian Shrine was anti-apartheid activist Sophia Theresa Williams-de Bruyn who like other Catholics felt it was her “bound duty” to attend the historic celebration.

Among the faithful gathered for the opening and blessing of the Mother of Mercy Shrine were local government representatives including Minister in the Presidency for Women, Youth, and People with Disabilities Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma.

As South Africans head to the polls on May 29 for the general elections to elect a new National Assembly as well as the provincial legislature in each of the nine provinces, the First Deputy Secretary-General of the African National Congress who is also a member of St Anne’s Sodality and member of the Friends of Marian Shrine Nomvula Paula Mokonyane says she’s praying that through the intercession of the Virgin Mary Mother of Mercy there can be “can be peace and harmony.”

Catholic media practitioner Kati Dijane from the Far East Rand Catholic News contributed to this article.