Bishop William F. Medley stands with Fr. Fr. José Carmelo Jiménez Salinas while displaying the decree designating Fr. Jiménez’s role of Missionary of Mercy on Feb. 26, 2025, in Mary, Mother of the Church Chapel in the McRaith Catholic Center. COURTESY OF MARTHA HAGAN
‘Showing the face of God is love and mercy’
Local pastor appointed Missionary of Mercy
BY ELIZABETH WONG BARNSTEAD, THE WESTERN KENTUCKY CATHOLIC
A local pastor, Fr. José Carmelo Jiménez Salinas, has been appointed by the Holy See to serve as a Missionary of Mercy.
“I feel so blessed, not only for myself but also for all the faithful… to show others that the face of God is love and mercy,” said Fr. Jiménez, the pastor of St. Michael Parish in Sebree.
Pope Francis created the Missionaries of Mercy role in 2016 during the Jubilee of Mercy, which he continued and institutionalized in the 2022 Apostolic Constitution on the Roman Curia.
Missionaries of Mercy are priests given faculties to absolve penitents of certain sins which are otherwise reserved to the Holy Father to absolve, due to their seriousness. These include the profanation of the Eucharist and the direct violation of the sacramental seal by a priest hearing a confession.
The decree from the Vatican, appointing Fr. Jiménez a Missionary of Mercy on Jan. 30, 2025, stated that his role is to place himself “at the disposal of pastors (parish priests), shrine rectors and diocesan bishops, conducting missions and initiatives related particularly to the celebration of the Sacrament of Reconciliation and the preaching of the mystery of God’s Divine Mercy, especially during the ‘most important’ moments of the liturgical year.”
The Sebree priest said there are about 127 Missionaries of Mercy in the United States, out of the roughly 1,200 spread across the globe. The Diocese of Owensboro has only had one Missionary of Mercy other than Fr. Jiménez; Fr. Daniel Kreutzer, who died in late 2022.
Fr. Jiménez feels blessed to show people “the mercy of God” in an even greater capacity than before, he said.
As a priest for 26 years this April, Fr. Jiménez is devoted to helping the faithful better appreciate the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
Bishop William F. Medley and Fr. Fr. José Carmelo Jiménez Salinas look at the decree designating Fr. Jiménez’s role of Missionary of Mercy on Feb. 26, 2025, in Mary, Mother of the Church Chapel in the McRaith Catholic Center. COURTESY OF MARTHA HAGAN
After hearing someone’s confession and giving them absolution, he is moved by “the peace in their faces. Sometimes, they have carried their sins a long time,” he said. “That is a powerful moment – being able to see people at peace.”
And now, if a priest encounters one of those situations of a serious sin while hearing a penitent’s confession and is unable to absolve them, “they can send them to me,” said Fr. Jiménez.
The same week that Fr. Jiménez received word that he was appointed to be a Missionary of Mercy, he was surprised to receive a phone call from a priest in Tennessee.
He had not spoken to many people about this appointment yet, but word had reached the Tennessee pastor, who wished to help a penitent needing absolution for a serious situation. Fr. Jiménez was able to meet with the penitent and hear their confession.
Fr. Jiménez said many people, as children, grew up with the misunderstanding that God is focused on punishing them, which could not be farther from the truth.
“People point fingers – but God opens his arms and receives us,” he said.
Fr. Jiménez primarily works with the immigrant community in western Kentucky, many of whom experienced trauma when escaping violence in their homelands and still live in fear today.
He realized he could help “to console and comfort the immigrants” if he was accepted to serve as a Missionary of Mercy, so he asked Bishop William F. Medley if he would be willing to recommend him to the Holy See for this role.
Bishop Medley was glad to do so, and after receiving the decree from the Vatican, presented it to Fr. Jiménez on Feb. 26 before diocesan staff in the pastoral center chapel.
Fr. Jiménez said his emphasis on reconciliation stems from his own conversion experience, which took place through confession. After being away from the Church for eight years as a young adult growing up in Mexico, he unwillingly attended a retreat with a friend.
During that retreat, he agreed to go to confession for the first time in years, which brought him back to God and the Church.
Today, Fr. Jiménez often tells people that “confession, for me, is the moment to receive a big hug from God.”
In addition to continuing his regular pastor duties, Fr. Jiménez is available to conduct parish missions. Currently, he is scheduled to offer missions in Sebree and Franklin, Ky., and in Tennessee.
Originally printed in the April 2025 issue of The Western Kentucky Catholic.
