Divine mercy#Islam

The idea that God is merciful is central to Abrahamic religions, and is often viewed as intertwined with justice, love, and holiness. Mercy involves God's willingness to forgive sins, heal suffering, and show patience toward human frailty.

The words used in the Bible in Hebrew to designate mercy, including divine mercy, are rakham (Exodus 34:6; Isaiah 55:7), khanan (Deut. 4:31) and khesed (Nehemiah 9:32).

In the Greek of the New Testament and of the Septuagint, the word most commonly used to designate mercy, including divine mercy, is eleos.

The Arabic word used in Islam to refer to divine mercy is raḥma.

{{See also|Thirteen Attributes of Mercy|Attributes of God in Christianity}}

In Judaism, divine mercy is a frequent theme in the Hebrew Scriptures. God reveals Himself as "rachum ve-chanun" (merciful and gracious) in Exodus 34:6. The Hebrew word "chesed" (steadfast love or loving-kindness) often expresses God’s covenantal mercy toward Israel.

Mercy is expressed in the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy recited during Jewish prayers, particularly on Yom Kippur. God’s mercy allows for teshuvah (repentance), a central theme in Jewish spirituality.

In Christianity, it is believed that it is through his action that God reveals his mercy. Divine mercy is appealed to in Christian repentances.{{Cite book |title=Cambridge Dictionary of Christian theology |date=2011 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-88092-3 |location=Cambridge |pages=443 |chapter=Repentance}}

In the Catholic Church, God's mercy is seen as the "universal root" of all of God's acts: divine mercy is the cause of all actions God accomplishes outside of himself.{{Cite web |last=Waldstein |first=Susan |date=2022-03-10 |title=What Makes Mercy an Attribute of God? |url=https://churchlifejournal.nd.edu/articles/what-makes-mercy-an-attribute-of-god/ |access-date=2023-05-25 |website=Church Life Journal |language=en}}

John Paul II had a strong love for the Divine Mercy devotion, inspired by his fellow Pole, Faustina Kowalska (b. 1905 - d.1938), a devotion that he later instituted for the entire Catholic Church in 2000 as Divine Mercy Sunday and during which vigil, in 2005, he died. His second encyclical as Pope is entitled Dives in misericordia (Latin: Rich in Mercy), referring to God the Father.{{cite web |url=https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_30111980_dives-in-misericordia_en.html |publisher=Vatican website |title=Dives in misericordia |ref={{harvid|Dives in Misericordia}}}} It is a modern examination of the role of mercy—both God's mercy, and also the need for human mercy—introducing the biblical parable of the Prodigal Son as a central theme.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that "[t]he Gospel is the revelation in Jesus Christ of God's mercy to sinners",{{CCC|pp=1846}} and that "[t]here are no limits to the mercy of God, but anyone who deliberately refuses to accept his mercy by repenting, rejects the forgiveness of his sins and the salvation offered by the Holy Spirit".{{CCC|pp=1864}}

Pope Francis was known at the Pope of Mercy, who produced a deep and thoroughgoing theology and pastoral approach based on mercy.https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2025-04/the-pope-of-mercy.html He taught about its central importance in the theology of God and in the Church. He taught that Mercy is God's identity and his name. Mercy is the central truth about God. And that Jesus is "the face of the Father’s mercy. These words might well sum up the mystery of the Christian faith. Mercy has become living and visible in Jesus of Nazareth.”https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/bulls/documents/papa-francesco_bolla_20150411_misericordiae-vultus.html

One of his greatest achievements was to show that this central truth has implications in the entire operations of the Church.https://opusdei.org/en-ph/article/great-job-lolo-kiko/ He taught: "“Mercy is the very foundation of the Church’s life. All of her pastoral activity should be caught up in the tenderness she makes present to believers; nothing in her preaching and in her witness to the world can be lacking in mercy. The Church’s very credibility is seen in how she shows merciful and compassionate love.”https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/bulls/documents/papa-francesco_bolla_20150411_misericordiae-vultus.html

{{Main|:fr:Miséricorde (islam)}}

{{See also|Attributes of God in Islam}}

In Islam, God's mercy is designated by the Arabic term raḥma. One of the names of God in Islam is al-raḥmān and al-raḥīm ("the Compassionate" and "the Merciful"). In Islam, portions of God's mercy are considered as being within all the world (and not only in humanity).

File:Divine Mercy.jpeg]]

• Divine Mercy (Catholic devotion)
• Will of God
• Divine wrath

{{Reflist}}

Category:Christian terminology

Category:Islamic theology

Category:Jewish theology

Category:Divinity