WHAT IS A HOLY YEAR?
In
the Roman Catholic tradition, a Holy Year, or Jubilee is a great religious
event. It is a year of forgiveness of sins and
also
the punishment due to sin, it is a year of reconciliation between adversaries,
of conversion and receiving the
Sacrament
of Reconciliation, and consequently of solidarity, hope, justice, commitment
to serve God with joy and in
peace
with our brothers and sisters. A Jubilee year is above all the year of
Christ, who brings life and grace to humanity.
The
origin of the Christian Jubilee goes back to Bible times. The Law of Moses
prescribed a special year for the
Jewish
people: "You shall hallow the fiftieth year and proclaim the liberty throughout
the land, to all its inhabitants;
it
shall be a jubilee for you when each of you shall return to his property
and each of you shall return to his family.
This
fiftieth year is to be a jubilee year for you: you will not sow, you will
not harvest the un-gathered corn, you will not
gather
the untrimmed vine. The jubilee is to be a holy thing to you, you will
eat what comes from the fields.
"(The
Book of Leviticus 25, 10-14) The trumpet with which this particular year
was announced was a goat's horn called
Yobel
in Hebrew, and the origin of the word jubilee. The celebration of this
year also included the restitution of land to the
original
owners, the remission of debts, the liberation of slaves and the land was
left fallow. In the New Testament,
Jesus
presents himself as the One who brings the old Jubilee to completion, because
he has come to "preach the year
of
the Lord's favour" (Isaiah 61: 1-2).
It
is interesting to note that in almost every country, time is counted as
before and after Christ's coming into the world,
although
today few people may realise the reasons for this calculation. For Christians
then, the Jubilee of the year 2000 is
especially
important because it will be a celebration of the 2000th anniversary of
the birth of Christ (apart from differences of
exact
chronological count.) What is more, it will be the first Holy Year which
marks the turn of a millennium, since the first
Jubilee
was proclaimed by Pope Boniface VIII in 1300. For Christians then, the
Jubilee of the Year 2000 should
be
a great prayer of praise and thanksgiving to God for the gift of the Incarnation
of His Son and the Redemption He brings.
The
Jubilee is called Holy Year, not only because its begins, is marked, and
ends with solemn holy acts, but also because
its
purpose is to encourage holiness of life. It was actually convoked to strengthen
faith, encourage works of charity and
brotherly
communion within the Church and in society and to call Christians to be
more sincere and coherent in their faith
in
Christ, the only Saviour.
A Jubilee
can be "ordinary" if it falls after the set period of years, and "extraordinary"
when it is proclaimed for some
outstanding
event. There have been twenty-five "ordinary" Holy Years so far: the Year
2000 will be the 26th. The custom of
calling
"extraordinary" Jubilees began in the 16th century and they can vary in
length from a few days to a year.
There
have been two extraordinary jubilees in this century: 1933 proclaimed by
Pope Pius XI to mark the 1900th anniversary
of
Redemption and 1983 proclaimed by Pope John Paul II to mark 1950 years
since the Redemption carried out by
Christ
through his Death and Resurrection in the year 33. In 1987 Pope John Paul
II also proclaimed a Marian year.
THE HISTORY OF THE JUBILEE
The
first ordinary Jubilee was proclaimed in 1300 by Pope Boniface VII a member
of the noble Caetani family, with a Bull, "Antiquorum Habet Fida Relatio".
Throughout Christendom (the known world at that time) there was great suffering,
caused
by
wars and diseases such as the plague and all kinds of ills: among the people
there was a great desire to return to a more holy way of living. So with
great faith the Christians determined to travel (on foot) to Rome, to pray
at the tombs of the Apostles
Peter
and Paul and to receive the Pope's blessing, in order to obtain the grace
and strength to carry on. They came in their thousands at Christmas in
1299. Due to their great number the Pope, having enquired and learned the
reason for their coming,
full
of admiration for their faith proclaimed a "year of forgiveness of all
sins". A similar year would be held in future, every hundred years. Outstanding
names are recorded among the pilgrims of that first Jubilee: Dante, Cima
Bue, Giotto, Carlo de Valois brother
of
the King of France, with his wife Catherine. Dante Alighiere who writes
of the event in his "Divine Comedy" in Canto XXXI of Paradise.
While
the Apostolic See was transferred to Avignon in France (1305-1377) there
were many requests for the second Jubilee
to
be held earlier, in 1350 instead of 1400. Clement VI gave his consent and
set a period of fifty years between jubilees.
Besides
visiting the Basilicas built over the tombs of Peter and Paul the pilgrims
were also required to visit to Saint John Lateran,
the
city's Cathedral, being the first Church of the Bishop of Rome who is the
Pope. Later Pope Urban VI decided to reduce the
period
to thirty three years in memory of the earthly life of Jesus. When Pope
Urban died, however, the new Pope, Boniface IX opened the Holy Door on
Christmas Eve 1390, but since the numbers of pilgrims were so great he
called a second Holy Year at Christmas 1400.
In
1425, and not in 1433, as it had been formerly set, Pope Martin V proclaimed
the Holy Year 1425 with two novelties:
a
special commemorative Jubilee Medal and the opening of a Holy Door in the
Cathedral of Saint John in the Lateran.
Nicholas
V called the 1450 Holy Year and in 1470 Pope Paul II issued a Bull to fix
the Jubilee for every twenty-five years.
The
next Holy Year 1475 was proclaimed by Sixtus IV. And for the occasion the
Pope wished to adorn Rome with more
works
of art: he ordered the building of the Sistine Chapel and the Ponte Sisto
or Sixtus Bridge over the River Tiber
(both
named after him). Several renowned artists were working in Rome at that
time: Verroccio, Signiorelli, Ghirlandaio,
Botticelli,
Perugino, Pinturicchio, Melozzo da Forli.
In
1500 Pope Alexander VI announced that the Doors in the four major basilicas
would be opened contemporaneously,
and
that he himself would open the Holy Door of Saint Peter's. The ninth Jubilee
was solemnly opened on December 24th
1524
by Pope Clement VII, at a time when there were already symptoms of the
great crises which would soon tear the Church
apart,
with the Protestant Reform. The 1550 Jubilee was proclaimed by Paul II,
but it was Pope Julius III who actually opened
it.
The remarkable afflux of pilgrims caused no few difficulties in the city
and Saint Philip Neri was among those who came
to
their help with his Holy Trinity Confraternity. It is recorded that in
1575, in the time of Pope Gregory XIII, as many as
300,000
people came to Rome from all over Europe. The next Holy Years were proclaimed
by Clement VIII, (1600) Urban
VIII
(1650), Clement X (1675).
Innocent
X, who opened the Jubilee of the year 1700, is remembered especially for
establishing one of Rome's most renowned charitable institutions, the Hospice
St Michele a Ripa. Gradually other similar institutions were opened to
offer shelter and assistance to pilgrims, as in the year 1725, the Holy
Year called by Benedict XIII. A famous preacher during the Jubilee 1750,
proclaimed by Benedict XIV, was Saint Leonardo da Porto Maurizio, the apostle
of the Via Crucis, who set up 14 stations of the
Cross
inside the ruins of the Colosseum. Clement XIV announced the Jubilee of
the Year 1775 but he died three months before Christmas and the Holy Door
was opened by the new Pope, Pius VI. The difficult situation in which the
Church found herself during the hegemonic rule of Napoleon prevented Pius
VII from proclaiming the Jubilee of 1800.
More
than a half a million pilgrims made the journey to Rome for the Jubilee
of 1825. As St Paul's Basilica was under new construction, having been
destroyed by fire two years earlier, Pope Leo XII substituted the visit
to St Paul's outside the walls with Santa Maria in Trastevere Basilica.
Twenty five years later, the Holy Year could not be held because of the
unsettled situation
in
the Roman Republic and temporary exile of Pius IX. However, this Pope did
proclaim the Holy Year 1875, although there
was
no ceremony of the opening of the Door due to Rome's occupation by the
troops of King Vittorio Emmanuele.
It
was Pope Leo XIII who called the 22nd Christian Jubilee which opened the
20th century of the Christian era, characterised
by
six beatifications and two canonizations, (Saint Jean Baptist de La Salle
and Saint Rita da Cascia). In the Holy Year 1925,
Pius
XI wished to direct the attention of the faithful to the prodigious work
of the missions. To gain the indulgence, the people
were
asked to pray (according to the intention of the Pope) for peace among
peoples. In 1950, a few years after World
War
II, Pius XII called the Holy Year with the following indications: the sanctification
of souls through prayer and penance and unfailing faith in Christ and the
Church; action for peace and protection of the Holy Places; defence of
the Church against
constant
attacks by her enemies; prayers for the gift of faith for those in error,
and for unbelievers; the promotion of social
justice
and assistance of the poor and needy. It was during this year that the
Pope defined the Assumption into Heaven of Mary,
the
Mother of Jesus, as a dogma of the Catholic faith. (November 1st, 1950).
The last ordinary Jubilee was called in 1975
by
Pope Paul VI with two main themes for reflection and action: Renewal and
Reconciliation.
Apostolic
Letter
TERTIO MILLENNIO ADVENIENTE
On
November 10th, 1994, Pope John Paul II promulgated an Apostolic Letter,
Tertio Millennio adveniente, addressed to "the Bishops, the clergy and
lay faithful on preparation for the Jubilee of the Year 2000". The document
contains a brief introduction
and
five chapters. The introduction presents the main subject of the letter:
the Jubilee is a celebration of the redeeming
Incarnation
of the Son of God, Jesus Christ.
Chapter
I JESUS CHRIST IS THE SAME YESTERDAY AND TODAY, explains the significance
and importance of the birth of
Christ.
He, the Son of God, became one of us in order to reveal to us God's plan
for the whole of creation, and for mankind in particular. This is the essential
point which makes Christianity different from other religions: it is God
who comes in search of mankind, and shows the way for us to reach him.
The incarnation of Christ is God's coming, to show us that we have taken
the
wrong road, the road of evil. "Overcoming evil: this is the meaning of
the Redemption" (TMA 7) Christianity therefore, is the religion of the
Incarnation, of the world's Redemption.
Chapter
II, THE JUBILEE OF THE YEAR 2000, explains the origin of a Holy Year and
the deep significance of this next one
which
will mark the end of one millennium and the beginning of another. With
the Incarnation, God entered human history,
eternity
entered time: Christ is the Lord of time. In Christianity, time has a fundamental
importance. Since God has entered our human time, there arises the duty
to sanctify time. Against this background we can understand the custom
of Jubilees which
began
in Bible times and continues in the history of the Church. Jesus himself
proclaims the year of the Lord's favour. For the Church the Jubilee is
a year of special grace, of remission of sins and the punishment due to
them, a year of reconciliation
between
disputing parties. Our own lives are marked with jubilees, anniversaries
of birthdays, and weddings and, for Christians, anniversaries of Baptism,
First Communion, Confirmation, Priestly or Episcopal Ordination. Communities,
dioceses and parishes
also
celebrate Jubilees for anniversaries of foundation etc. Hence with regard
to its content, this great Jubilee will be, in a sense,
like
any other. But at the same time it will be different, greater than any
other for Christians and for all people of goodwill.
Chapter
III, PREPARATION FOR THE GREAT JUBILEE, highlights the various events which
can be seen as providential
preparation
for the Jubilee of the second Christian millennium. First of all the Second
Vatican Council, "an event, focused on
the
mystery of Christ and his Church and at the same time open to the world.
This openness was an evangelical response to
recent
changes in the world, including the profoundly disturbing experiences of
the 20th century, ... the first and second World
Wars
..." experiences which demonstrate the world's need for purification. The
best preparation for the new millennium,
the
Pope writes, will be renewed commitment to apply the teachings of Vatican
II to the life of every individual and of the whole Church. Other events
seen as preparation for the Jubilee are the regular series of meetings
of the Synod of Bishops,
since
Vatican II, synods which can be, universal, continental, regional, but
also national and diocesan and which discuss and address various questions
and matters regarding the life of the Church. The underlying theme of them
all is evangelization,
or
rather the new evangelization. The ministry of the Bishop of Rome has special
tasks and responsibilities with regard to
the
Jubilee of the Year 2000. In a sense all the Popes of this century have
prepared for this Holy Year with numerous documents
and
messages, concerning social doctrine, for example the annual Message for
Peace first delivered by Pope Paul VI in 1968.
The
present Pope, John Paul II, in his first Encyclical, (Redemptor hominis),
spoke explicitly of the Great Jubilee as a
time
to be lived as a "new Advent". Papal journeys too, have become an important
element in the work of implementing the
Second
Vatican Council. In this Letter he expresses the desire to visit Sarajevo,
Lebanon, Jerusalem and the Holy Land,
"the
places on the road taken by the People of God of the Old Covenant, starting
from the places associated with Abraham and Moses, through Egypt and Mount
Sinai as far as Damascus, the city which witnessed the conversion of Saint
Paul."
The
Pope also affirms the important role of local Jubilees, in preparation
for the Great Jubilee, heralded also by the extraordinary 1983 Holy Year
of the Redemption, and the Marian year, 1986/87. "The Marian year was as
it were an anticipation of the
Jubilee
and contained much of what will find fuller expression in the Year 2000".
Furthermore, the Tertio Millennio adveniente
was
written in the Year of the Family, "a celebration closely connected with
the mystery of the incarnation and with the very
history
of humanity"
Chapter
IV, IMMEDIATE PREPARATION, presents a specific programme of initiatives
for preparation for the Jubilee in three
phases:
ante-preparatory (1994-96) in which to revive in the Christian people an
awareness of the value and meaning of the Jubilee of the Year 2000 in human
history; the second, (1997-99) a three year period centred on Christ, the
Son of God made Man, and
so,
Trinitarian. Reflection will therefore focus in 1997 on Christ; in 1998
on the Holy Spirit and in 1999 on God the Father, from
whom
the Lord was sent and to whom he has returned.
The main points indicated by the Pope for this immediate preparation which must be, he says, a profound general and individual examination of conscience, can be presented briefly as follows:
Recognition of sinfulness: "The Holy Door of the Jubilee of the Year 2000
should be
symbolically wider than those of the previous Jubilees - the Pope writes
- because humanity
upon reaching this goal, will leave behind not just a century but a millennium.
It is fitting that the
Church should make this passage with a clear awareness of what has happened
to her during
the last ten centuries. She cannot cross the threshold of the new millennium
without encouraging
her children to purify themselves, through repentance of past errors and
instances of infidelity,
inconsistency and slowness to act";
Yearning for unity among Christians, a deep desire present throughout the
Letter. The Pope
speaks of wounds of division which must be healed, and calls again for
examination of
conscience and promotion of fitting ecumencial initiatives, ecumenical
dialogue on all levels, and
above all prayer for unity.
Promotion of social justice in keeping with the Biblical tradition of the
Jubilee, (universal
destination of the produce of the land, re-establishment of equality among
the children of Israel)
Remembering the martyrs. A Church which forgets the martyrs of the past
or fails to
recognise the martyrs of today is not worthy to be the Church of Christ.
Here the Pope says "In
our own century the martyrs have returned" and "as far as possible their
witness should not be
lost to the Church." For this purpose he has asked that documentation be
gathered and
martyrologies be updated, particularly to foster the recognition of the
heroic virtues of men and
women who have lived their Christian vocation in marriage.
During
the three-year period of preparation the Church will give special attention
in 1997 to renewed appreciation of the Bible,
of
Baptism, of catechesis "the Apostles' teaching", and a strengthening of
faith and the witness of Christians. In 1998 efforts
will
be made for a renewed appreciation of the presence and activity of the
Spirit, the principal agent of the new evangelization,
and
attention for the signs of hope present in this past part of the century,
in society and in the Church. In the third and final
year
of immediate preparation, according to the indications given by Pope John
Paul II, the sense of being on a journey to the
Father
should encourage everyone to undertake an authentic journey of conversion,
through renewed appreciation and better celebration of the Sacrament of
Penance. Conversion is an indispensable condition of Christian love. Love
which is expressed
in
the Church's preferential option for the poor and the outcast. The Jubilee
could also be an opportune moment to
reduce,
of not cancel the international debt which weighs on many nations. The
eve of the Year 2000 will also be a good time for interreligious dialogue;
a time to hold joint meetings in significant places.
The celebration of the Great Jubilee, which will take place simultaneously in the Holy Land, in Rome and in all the local Churches throughout the world, will give glory to the Trinity, God, the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit.
- Chapter
V of Tertio Millennio adveniente, "JESUS CHRIST IS THE SAME ... FOR EVER,
speaks of the mission of the Church, called to carry on the work of Christ.
Like the mustard seed in the Gospel, the Church has grown to become a great
tree, able to cover the whole of humanity with her branches. Ever since
the time of the Apostles, the Church's mission has continued without
interruption
within the whole human family. With the fall of the great anti-Christian
systems in Europe, first of Nazism and then of Communism, there is urgent
need to bring once more the liberating message of the Gospel to the men
and women of today,
and
to the young generation in particular.
ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE
Pope
John Paul II officially began the preparations for the journey towards
the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000 with his Apostolic Letter Tertio Millennio
adveniente, published on November 10th 1994. Five days later he constituted
the Central Committee
and
its Council of Presidency.
PRESIDENT:
The
Central Committee offices were inaugurated on March 16th 1995. On that
occasion came the official announcement that
the
Pope had appointed 22 members of the Central Committee and constituted
eight commissions and three committees
within
the same Central Committee. Here is the list of the Commissions: Ecumenism,
Interreligious Dialogue, Liturgy,
New
Martyrs, Theology-History, Pastoral-Mission, Art-Culture, Social. The committees
are the following: Mass-Media, Rome,
Technical.
On June 5th 1995, three new memebrs of the Central Committee were appointed.
Furthermore, the appointment
of
Mgr Kamal Hanna Bathish, President of the Jerusalem Committee, brought
the number of Committees to four.
On
the 15th and 16th of February 1996, there was a meeting in the Vatican
between the 25 members of the Central Committee
and
more than a hundred representatives of the Bishops' Conferences throughout
the world. Leaders of other Christian
communions
also participated. Discussion focused on preparation for the Jubilee according
to the Tertio Millennio adveniente document. On February 16th the participants
were received by Pope John Paul II who indicated in the teachings of the
Second
Vatican
Council "the fundamental lesson for the preparation and celebration of
the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000". The meeting
was
also the occasion of the presentation of the first issue of Tertium Millennium
the official bulletin of the Central Committee
for
the Great Jubilee.
On
June 3rd and 4th, the Central Committee held a plenary meeting in the Vatican
to study opportune initiatives in view of the
first
year of immediate preparation for the Jubilee, that is 1997, during which,
reflection will focus on Jesus Christ. The meeting resulted in a draft
of a schedule for the Holy Year, and various proposals: renewed impulse
to evangelization; gestures of
solidarity
and reconciliation among individuals and peoples; emphasis on the ecumenical
character of the Jubilee; an invitation
to
followers of non-Christian religions to participate in the "great birthday
celebrations" for the 2000th anniversary of Christ's birth . During the
meeting work-plans for the 12 sub-organizations were also agreed on. These
include: a Christological volume by the Theological-Historical Commission
in five languages; pastoral and liturgical guide/handbooks; the announcement
of
the
compilation of a Registry of Martyrs of the 20th century.
The Central Committee was received in audience by the Holy Father on Tuesday 4th of June.
On
November the Cardinal Etchegaray, during a meeting with the journalists,
hold in the pressroom of the Holy See, announced
the
celebration of the Vespers in the first Advent's Sunday, together with
the solemn opening celebrated by the Holy Father regarding the preparatory
triennium to the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000.
At the same time was presented the guide - handbook of the Theological-Historical Commission "Christ, Word of the Father".
Another important announce was the choice of the ufficial "Logo" designed by a girl, student of the School of Arts: "Istituto Poligrafico e della Zecca di Stato". On December has been ufficially inaugurated the operative office of the Jubilee whether of the Technical Committee or of the Mass Media
TERTIUM
MILLENNIUM
Bulletin
Tertium
Millennium is the official bulletin of the Central Committee for the Great
Jubilee of the Year 2000. There have already been two editions in 1996
and a third will be published before the end of the year. The magazine
serves as a connecting link between the Central Committee and the national
committees set up by the Church in the various countries, a tool for pastoral
workers and a source of information for the media. It offers correct and
comprehensive information on the Jubilee, as regards its true significance,
a
commemoration of the birth of Christ.
The
trasformation of the issue in a simplier style - from Bulletin into a magazine
- represents the first attempt to put into practice
the
suggestions expressed by the Holy Father in his first address to the Central
Committee (June 8th 1995). "It is a question of helping the Episcopal Conferences,
the Dioceses and the parishes to come "to a deeper appreciation of the
most significant
aspects
of the Jubilee celebration" (TMA 31) combining them with the ordinary commitment
to new evangelization, and providing regular and useful pastoral materials
for this purpose. I know that you are planning appropriate links, making
the best possible
use
of the many modern means of social communications so that the intense preparatory
work may be known and shared
by
the entire Christian people in every corner of the earth." And in this
endeavour, precisely with the interventions and
teachings
of the Holy Father, in a leading-section "The Word of the Pope", in each
edition, Tertium Millennium offers
readers
an updated record of the journey towards the Holy Year of the Year 2000.
The
magazine contains all the official acts: it reports the activity of the
central Committee and other special bodies (eight commissions and four
committees), Pastoral Guides for the attention of the local Churches and
pastoral workers, as well as preparations undertaken by national committees
in the different countries throughout the world. Stating clearly the Church's
point
of view, it also deals with topical matters, such as ecumenical and interreligious
dialogue; the international debt and consequent shameful north-south imbalance;
the problem of refugees and migrants; the valorisation of Christianity's
artistic
and cultural patrimony. The special-issue published in February 1996 reported
on the activity of the Central Committee
and
the various other committees and commissions in Rome; the second issue,
which came out in July, gave more space to
the
work of National Jubilee Committees, it also gave a brief History of the
Holy Year, with illustrations taken from the Vatican Apostolic Library
and a series of articles to mark the tenth anniversary on the historical
meeting of religions for a Day of Prayer
for
Peace in Assisi in 1986.
Both
issues of the Magazine were multimedia, and this will continue to the Year
2000. Included with first issue readers found a
CD
ROM comprising the address given by Pope John Paul II, parts of the Apostolic
Letter for the Jubilee, Tertio Millennio
adveniente
and a selection of sacred music. There was also a video produced by the
Vatican Television Centre. The CD ROM
in
the second issue contained the Tertio Millennio adveniente document in
three languages, an audio-visual version of
the
History of Holy Year and some unpublished recordings of some pieces of
sacred music. In February Tertium Millennium
was
published in Italian and in English, in the July issue, a French edition
was added as well. The next bulletin which will be released at Christmas,
focuses on the opening of the three-year phase of immediate preparation
for the Jubilee. It also presents
the
"logo" chosen for the Holy Year 2000. In 1997 Tertium Millennium will be
published every two months.