What is the purpose of the Prayer League? The goal of the prayer league is to pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet for the unity of Roman Catholic church leaders with the Holy Father, Benedict XVI. We leave it to others to foster devotion to the Divine Mercy and to Saint Faustina (see our Links page for some informative sites). As simply a group of people who pray privately, we have neither obtained nor sought any kind of ecclesiastical or organizational approval.

How did it start? The Divine Mercy Prayer League celebrates its tenth anniversary in 2008. It was founded by the late Father Winrich with a group of pilgrims in Poland shortly after attending Divine Mercy Sunday at Saint Faustina's convent in April 1998. Father Winrich said that the church in this perilous age needs to be united, and the ones to do that are its leaders. He called on the pilgrims to begin praying for unity and to start an association that would promote prayer for unity. We call ourselves "the board" and meet occasionally to pray for the success of the league's intentions.

Who belongs to the Prayer League? The League has over 1,300 members praying the Divine Mercy chaplet regularly for church unity. We continue to grow steadily and have members throughout the world: in the United States, Mexico, and Canada as well as in Central America, South America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Australia. Begun as a lay movement, we now have bishops, clergy, and religious praying with us.

Although numbers alone are less important than fervent prayer from dedicated members, our goal is eventually to have people praying everyday during the 3:00 PM Hour of Mercy in every time zone for the bishops whose dioceses are within that zone.

New members often come from having heard about the League from current members, so please pass along information about the League to anyone who you believe would like to join us. Point out that there are no dues, no selling of mailing lists, and no meetings to attend. All we ask is regular saying of the Divine Mercy Chaplet for the intention of church unity.

Who is Father Winrich? Father Winrich (1921 to 2006) was a Maryknoll Missionary priest for over 55 years, serving in several parishes in the Yucatan and Mexico City before he returned to the United States in 1995. Until his health no longer permitted, he served as chaplain and spiritual advisor for numerous groups, traveling throughout the United States, Mexico, Central America, and Europe.