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January 17, 2001
In final Jubilee document, Pope outlines future
'Personal encounter with Christ' should influence economics, says Pope
In a final document on the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000, Pope John Paul II revisited highlights of the Holy Year and suggested how its spiritual gifts can help lead others to the Gospel.
The apostolic letter, titled "Novo Millennio Ineunte" ("At the Beginning of the New Millennium"), offered some last words on several controversial jubilee themes, including the tension between mission and proclamation.
It also sketched out the Pope's vision of church priorities in the third millennium, emphasizing that the personal encounter with Christ should ultimately influence the economic and social behavior of modern society.
The Pope signed the 84-page document Jan. 6 on a small table brought to him in St. Peter's Square, where he had just celebrated a Mass to close the jubilee.
The document calls for a "new sense of mission" built on the enthusiasm of the jubilee, one that leads people to holiness and finds new ways to proclaim the Gospel in a culture marked by diversity and globalization.
After the jubilee, it said, there is "no time for looking back, even less for settling into laziness."
"A new millennium is opening before the church like a vast ocean upon which we shall venture, relying on the help of Christ," it said.
In the context of religious pluralism, the Pope pointed to the importance of dialogue with non-Christians and respect for their beliefs, especially in warding off the "dread specter of those wars of religion which have so often bloodied human history."
But for the church, he said, interreligous dialogue can never be understood as negotiation, as if the faith were a matter of mere opinion. Likewise, the Christian's joyful proclamation of the Gospel should not be considered "an offense to the identity of others," he said.
Citing the recent and controversial document, "Dominus Iesus," the Pope said interreligious dialogue cannot simply replace proclamation.
The Pope delivered a realistic assessment of the state of ecumenism, saying Christians had carried into the third millennium the "sad heritage of the past" and that there was "still a long way to go" before Christian unity can be attained.
But he noted with joy that for the first time in 2000, a holy door was opened together by leaders of the Catholic, Anglican and Orthodox churches. He also looked ahead to planned trips to Ukraine, Armenia and Syria later this year and said he had great hopes for relations with Eastern churches.
In describing the unity of the church of Christ, the Pope appeared to choose his words carefully, especially after ecumenical tensions in the wake of "Dominus Iesus."
"This unity is concretely embodied in the Catholic Church, despite the human limitations of her members, and is at work in varying degrees in all the elements of holiness and truth to be found in the other churches and ecclesial communities," he said.
The document defended the jubilee's running theme of individual and collective repentance, saying that the church's examination of conscience and admission of historical faults had humbled Christians and "strengthened our steps for the journey toward the future."
Under the heading, "Stake everything on charity," it closely examined the link between individual faith and social justice. The church's social teachings are an essential part of Christian witness, it said, and "we must reject the temptation to offer a privatized and individualistic spirituality which ill accords with the demands of charity."
The church as a whole has a similar responsibility. Citing Christ's injunction to feed the hungry and clothe the naked, it said, "By these words, no less than by the orthodoxy of her doctrine, the church measures her fidelity as the bride of Christ."
The document drew a stark picture of the modern economic reality, saying immense possibilities are offered to a fortunate few while millions are left in degrading conditions. It called for a "new creativity in charity," to find ways that get close to those who suffer and ensure that aid is not seen as a "humiliating handout." The Pope said he wanted to leave a concrete sign of the church's commitment, designating excess jubilee funds for a permanent charity program. Vatican officials said the money would finance a new house for disabled pilgrims in Rome. The Pope said the church should not apologize for trying to implement its moral teachings in society. The defense of human life from conception to natural death is not a case of "imposing" Catholic teachings on nonbelievers, but of protecting values rooted in human dignity, he said. In defending the Christian view of marriage and the family, he said, the church "cannot yield to cultural pressures, no matter how widespread and even militant they may be." The Pope called on local churches to come up with pastoral plans that capture the spiritual energy of the jubilee. He acknowledged, however, that programs and structures are no guarantee of reaching people in their hearts and stimulating holiness. "Can holiness ever be `planned'?" he asked. Instead, he encouraged pastors to challenge Christians and urge them not to settle for ethical mediocrity and "shallow religiosity." He said the number of new saints declared during the jubilee, including lay people from various walks of life, underscored that "the time has come to repropose wholeheartedly to everyone this high standard of ordinary Christian living." The Pope asked pastors to lead Catholics back to the sacrament of penance, exhorting them not to "give in to passing crises." He said the dramatic need for new priests in the coming years should prompt an extensive global plan of vocational promotion. In discussing the need for communion within the church, he said more attention should be given to local councils of priests and parish members. Although these structures are not governed by the rules of parliamentary democracy, pastors should keep dialogue open with their faithful, the Pope said. "We need to make our own the ancient pastoral wisdom which, without prejudice to their authority, encouraged pastors to listen more widely to the entire people of God," he said. Citing personal Holy Year highlights, the Pope said his pilgrimage to the Holy Land was "one of the most beautiful gifts" of the jubilee - although he regretted that he was unable to begin it at the birthplace of Abraham in modern Iraq because of continuing political and military conflict there. He said World Youth Day celebrations had left him with unforgettable images, including that of happy young people "swarming through the city" on their way to prayer and other encounters. He said his meeting with prisoners in a Rome jail was one of the more moving moments of the jubilee. Addressing foreign debt, the Pope said he was gratified that recently some creditor nations had approved a substantial forgiveness of bilateral debt of the poorest nations. Those decisions now need to be implemented, and more work needs to be done on relieving the massive multilateral debt that poor countries have contracted with international lending organizations, he said. - CNS
