Doors of Mercy of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy in a network of pilgrimage centres in Poland
The Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy announced by Pope Francis lasted in the Catholic Church from 8 December 2015 to 20 November 2016. In accordance with the Holy Father’s decision, approximately 10 thousand Holy Doors – Doors of Mercy were opened in all Catholic Church dioceses during the Jubilee Year. In these doors, the faithful could obtain complete indulgence. In Poland, a total of 669 churches or chapels were pronounced Churches of the Jubilee Year of Mercy by local ordinaries. Doors of Mercy were opened in those churches. These churches included all cathedrals of the Latin Catholic Church (42 cathedrals) and two cathedrals of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, and: 319 shrines, 90 parish churches or filial churches of Divine Mercy, 23 churches of the Most Sacred Heart of Lord Jesus, 10 churches of St. Faustina Kowalska, 10 hospital chapels, 4 prison chapels, two convent chapels, one chapel at the Hospice Home, one chapel of the Border Guards and one chapel at the shelter for the homeless. This paper is aimed at quantitative presentation of the Doors of Mercy of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy in Poland, the analysis of spatial arrangement of Doors of Mercy in the sacred space of Poland, and the grouping of Doors of Mercy with regard to pilgrimage centres in Poland, considering the spatial range of impact, patronage and rank of shrines. The presentation of research results mainly makes use of a dynamic and comparison method, cartographic presentation methods (thematic map and choropleth map), and statistical methods.