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21. Part of the preparation for the approach
of the Year 2000 is the series of
Synods begun after the Second Vatican Council: general Synods together
with continental, regional, national and diocesan Synods. The theme
underlying them all is evangelization,
or rather the new evangelization, the foundations of which were laid
down in the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi of Pope Paul
VI, issued in 1975 following the Third General Assembly of the Synod of
Bishops. These Synods themselves are part of the new evangelization: they
were born of the Second Vatican Council's vision of the Church. They open up
broad areas for the participation of the laity, whose specific
responsibilities in the Church they define. They are an expression of the
strength which Christ has given to the entire People of God, making it a
sharer in his own Messianic mission as Prophet, Priest and King. Very
eloquent in this regard are the statements of the Dogmatic Constitution Lumen
Gentium. The preparation for the Jubilee Year 2000 is thus taking place
throughout the whole Church, on the universal and local levels, giving
her a new awareness of the salvific mission she has received from Christ.
This awareness is particularly evident in the Post-Synodal Exhortations
devoted to the mission of the laity, the formation of priests, catechesis,
the family, the value of penance and reconciliation in the life of the
Church and of humanity in general, as well as in the forth coming one to be
devoted to the consecrated life.
22. Special tasks and responsibilities with
regard to the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000 belong to the ministry of the Bishop of Rome. In
a certain sense, all the Popes of the past century have prepared for this
Jubilee. With his programme to renew all things in Christ, Saint Pius X
tried to forestall the tragic developments which arose from the
international situation at the beginning of this century. The Church was
aware of her duty to act decisively to promote and defend the basic values
of peace and justice in the face of contrary tendencies in our time. The
Popes of the period before the Council acted with firm commitment, each in
his own way: Benedict XV found himself faced with the tragedy of the First
World War; Pius XI had to contend with the threats of totalitarian systems
or systems which did not respect human freedom in Germany, in Russia, in
Italy, in Spain, and even earlier still in Mexico. Pius XII took steps to
counter the very grave injustice brought about by a total contempt for human
dignity at the time of the Second World War. He also provided enlightened
guidelines for the birth of a new world order after the fall of the previous
political systems.
Furthermore, in the course of this century
the Popes, following in the footsteps of Leo XIII, systematically developed
the themes of Catholic social doctrine, expounding the characteristics of a just system in
the area of relations between labour and capital. We may recall the
Encyclical Quadragesimo Anno of Pius XI, the numerous interventions
of Pius XII, the Encyclicals Mater et Magistra and Pacem in Terris
of John XXIII, the Encyclical Populorum Progressio and the
Apostolic Letter Octogesima Adveniens of Paul VI. I too have
frequently dealt with this subject: I specifically devoted the Encyclical Laborem
Exercens to the importance of human labour, while in
Centesimus Annus I wished to reaffirm the relevance, one hundred
years later, of the doctrine presented in Rerum Novarum. In my
Encyclical Sollicitudo Rei Socialis I had earlier offered a
systematic reformulation of the Church's entire social doctrine against the
background of the East-West confrontation and the danger of nuclear war. The
two elements of the Church's social doctrine—the safeguarding of
human dignity and rights in the sphere of a just relation between labour
and capital and the promotion of peace—were closely joined in this
text. The Papal Messages of 1 January each year, begun in 1968 in the
pontificate of Paul VI, are also meant to serve the cause of peace.
23. Since the publication of the very first
document of my Pontificate, I have
spoken explicitly of the Great Jubilee, suggesting that the time leading
up to it be lived as "a new Advent".(9) This theme has since
reappeared many times, and was dwelt upon at length in the Encyclical Dominum
et Vivificantem.(10) In fact, preparing for the Year 2000 has become as it were a hermeneutical key of my
Pontificate. It is certainly not a matter of indulging in a new
millenarianism, as occurred in some quarters at the end of the first
millennium; rather, it is aimed at an
increased sensitivity to all that the Spirit is saying to the Church and to the Churches (cf.
Rev 2:7 ff.), as well as to individuals through charisms meant to
serve the whole community. The purpose is to emphasize what the Spirit is
suggesting to the different communities, from the smallest ones, such as the
family, to the largest ones, such as nations and international
organizations, taking into account cultures, societies and sound traditions.
Despite appearances, humanity continues to await the revelation of the
children of God, and lives by this hope, like a mother in labour, to use the
image employed so powerfully by Saint Paul in his Letter to the Romans (cf.
8:19-22).
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