The Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy is a period of prayer for Catholics held from the Feast of the Immaculate Conception (December 8), 2015 to the Feast of Christ the King (November 20), 2016.
There will be almost 2,500 volunteers of the Sovereign Order of Malta active in Rome during the 12 months of this Extraordinary Jubilee.
The participants will be from Europe and other countries, including Germany, Austria, Ireland, Switzerland, France, Malta, Albania, Belgium, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Cuba and America. They will provide medical assistance to the thousands of pilgrims expected in Rome during the year. The teams of doctors, nurses and rescuers will be placed in St Peter’s Square and in the other Roman basilicas: St John Lateran, St Paul Outside the Walls and St Mary Major, as well as in Piazza di Spagna.
For each basilica, the Order of Malta’s volunteers will cover three shifts a day – from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. There is a doctor, a nurse and two rescuers for each shift. The operational centre for the volunteers will be the Order of Malta’s First-Aid Post located a few meters from the entrance to St. Peter’s Basilica, which for 35 years has been offering healthcare to pilgrims 365 days a year.
From 12 December 2015 to 19 December 2015, the Albanian Organization of the Order of Malta was present in this activity with three teams. Each team had 4 participants: a doctor, a nurse and two rescuers. They offered medical assistance in 2 points: at St Paul Outside the Walls and at St Peter’s Square.
