Vilnius to Host the Sixth World Apostolic Congress on Mercy
From 7 to 12 June 2026, Vilnius will host the 6th World Apostolic Congress on Mercy (WACOM). This will be a major international event of the Catholic Church in Lithuania, bringing together around 5,000 participants from countries across the world. The Congress will invite believers and people of good will to come together for prayer, reflection, encounters and dialogue, seeking a renewed understanding of how to bear effective witness to God’s mercy in the contemporary world.
The Congress is organised by the Dicastery for Evangelisation of the Holy See in cooperation with the Archdiocese of Vilnius. Participants will include bishops, priests, members of consecrated life, community leaders, lay people, families and young people who wish to engage in fostering a culture of mercy in their own communities.
The theme of the Congress, “Building the City of Mercy”, invites reflection on the mission of the faithful to create communities that live by the spirit of the Gospel, where indifference and individualism give way to attentiveness to others through concrete works of love, the spoken word and prayer.
“God is the architect of the City of Mercy, and we are His co-workers. I invite everyone to come to Vilnius, to experience God’s mercy and to become its witnesses,” said Gintaras Grušas, Archbishop of Vilnius.
The programme will include the celebration of the Eucharist, communal prayer, talks and testimonies, thematic sessions throughout the city, exhibitions, film screenings and a cultural programme. The Congress will open with the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ and a Eucharistic procession to the main venue, and will conclude with the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and a prayer for peace and fraternity among nations and states.
Archbishop Gintaras Grušas notes that the Congress will take place in a city that holds a unique place in the history of Divine Mercy: it was in Vilnius that Saint Faustina Kowalska lived and was guided by her confessor, Blessed Michał Sopoćko; here the first image of the Merciful Jesus was painted, and here the prayer of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy was dictated.
The main events of the Congress will take place on the Saviour Hill, near the Church of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. For more than three centuries, the message of mercy has been proclaimed at this site: missionary, Visitation and Vincentian religious communities worked here, carrying out numerous works of charity for the city’s inhabitants; in 1934, the first image of Divine Mercy was painted here. During the Soviet period, the Visitation convent and the Church of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus were converted into a prison. Today, through the Congress on Mercy, this place once again becomes a space of prayer, reconciliation and hope.
Advance registration is required to participate in the event.
More information and tickets: www.wacomvilnius.org.
Media contacts:
Jovita Valeikaitė La Ferrera
jovitalaferrera@wacomvilnius.org
+37061114325
