Great Jubilee

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Jubilee 2000

The official logo of the Great Jubilee of 2000 features its motto with the Latin meaning: Christ Yesterday, Today, Forever.
Native name	Iubilaeum A.D. 2000
Date	December 24, 1999 – January 6, 2001 (1999-12-24 – 2001-01-06)
Location	Worldwide
Website	www.vatican.va/jubilee_2000/index.htm

The Great Jubilee in 2000 was a major event in the

The formal convocation of the holy year came through the papal bull of indiction, Incarnationis Mysterium (Mystery of the Incarnation), on November 29, 1998. In the bull, the Pope indicated that he had desired to lead the Church into the Great Jubilee since the beginning of his pontificate. He explained that this Jubilee would be a chance to open new horizons in preaching the Kingdom of God. However, it would also be a time of repentance, both for individuals and for the Church as a whole. Furthermore, he stressed the ecumenical character of this event, which he saw as not only for Catholics, but for all Christians and indeed for the whole world.

The various churches and cathedrals in Rome took advantage of the Jubilee to perform long-needed renovations. The facade of St. Peter's was under scaffolding for months, as centuries of grime were painstakingly removed. The Holy See also arranged to build a massive parking garage under the Janiculum hill, in order to accommodate all the buses that were expected. Construction of the garage was halted for some time due to the discovery of mosaics dating from the imperial period in previously unknown chambers under the hill. These were removed en masse so as to be able to complete the garage in time for the Jubilee.

Jubilee Indulgence

With the Bull of Indiction came a document from the Apostolic Penitentiary, indicating the conditions for receiving the Jubilee indulgence. In many respects, they were greatly simplified with respect to previous years. The normal conditions of confession, communion, prayer for the Pope and renunciation of attachment to sin remained in place, but unlike previous Jubilees, it was only necessary to visit a single church on a single day.

The indulgence could be obtained in

The indulgence could also be obtained in the Holy Land by a visit to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, or the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth.

Further, the Jubilee was extended to all dioceses of the world. A visit to the cathedral church or another shrine designated by the bishop would also suffice to gain the Jubilee indulgence. Cloistered nuns and monks could obtain the indulgence in their house chapels.

Finally, the indulgence could be gained by means of a personal sacrifice or works of charity. Specifically mentioned in the document were sacrifices such as giving up

Highpoints

The particular Jubilees punctuated each week of the year 2000. There were special Vespers services held every day at St. Peter's Basilica, often with participation by the Pope. Nearly every Sunday was dedicated to a special celebration of some sector of society. (See list at the end of this article.)

Some events of the Jubilee year were seen to be particularly significant, however.

Opening

The pope opened the Jubilee by opening the holy door of St. Peter's Basilica shortly before the Midnight Mass on December 24, 1999. Most of the time, the holy doors of the patriarchal Basilicas are cemented shut. On the occasion of a Jubilee year, the pope opens the doors as a symbol of opening the doors of grace. Pilgrims visiting the basilicas to gain the Jubilee indulgence enter the basilicas through these special doors. Throughout most of the Jubilee year, long lines were queued up to enter the door.

Pope John Paul II simplified the rite of opening considerably, compared to previous Jubilees. (See Holy door.) After a series of prayers and hymns, punctuated by African elephant tusks being blown, the Pope, clad in a purple cope, pushed on the doors as they were drawn open from inside by assistants. He then fell to his knees on the threshold of the Basilica and prayed, holding his silver Papal ferula. Pope John Paul II commissioned Patsy Ford Simms to compose the music for this celebration.^[2]

The holy door in

Ecumenical Celebration at St. Paul's

The fourth holy door, that of St. Paul Outside the Walls, was not opened until January 18, 2000, to launch the week of prayer for Christian Unity. For that celebration, the Pope had planned an ecumenical service, inviting leaders of all Christian religions to take part. Twenty-two Christian leaders accepted the invitation, along with a representative of the

One particularly rich ceremony of the Jubilee, dubbed the "Day of Forgiveness", came on March 12, 2000, the first Sunday of Lent. There the Pope begged forgiveness from God for the sins committed by members of the Church, and particularly sins committed in the name of the Church.^[3]

Seven senior

This mea culpa of the Church was widely applauded, but some members of the Catholic Church felt that it had gone too far, and had damaged the doctrine that the Church is holy. For his part, at the prayer of the Angelus later in the day, the Pope indicated that such a ceremony was necessary. "The Holy Year is a time of purification: the Church is Holy because Christ is her Head and Spouse, the Spirit is her vivifying soul, and the Blessed Virgin and the saints are her most authentic expression. However, the children of the Church know the reality of sin, whose shadows are reflected in her, darkening her beauty. Because of this, the Church does not cease to implore God's forgiveness for the sins of her members."

Pilgrimage to the Holy Land

Only a few days later, from March 21 to March 26, the Pope realized a long-held dream by completing a personal

World Youth Day

World Youth Day 2000 was an extremely well-attended event. An estimated two million youths took place in the closing Mass. The Roman subways were filled with singing youths from all over the world. The area around the

Closing

The Great Jubilee was closed on January 6, 2001 with the Mass of

There were also various special efforts to bring light on social issues in this year. Noting that the Biblical Jubilees involved the forgiveness of debts, the rock singer Bono, Quincy Jones, Willie Colón, Muhammad Ali, Bob Geldof among others supported Jubilee 2000 to increase awareness of the developing nations struggling under a possibly unpayable foreign debt. With the blessing of the Pope, they sought to bring governments and international banks to cancel such debts during the Jubilee year.

The Italian group,

List of Jubilee events presided by John Paul II

• December 24, 1999: Opening of the Holy Door, Basilica of St. Peter
• December 25, 1999: Opening of the Holy Door, Basilica of St. John Lateran
• January 1, 2000: Opening of the Holy Door, Basilica of St. Mary Major
• January 18, 2000: Opening of the Holy Door, Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls
• February 2, 2000: Jubilee of Consecrated Life
• February 11, 2000: Jubilee of the Sick and health care workers
• February 18, 2000: Jubilee of Artists
• February 19, 2000: Jubilee of Permanent Deacons
• February 22, 2000: Jubilee of the Roman Curia
• March 12, 2000: Day of Forgiveness
• March 19, 2000: Jubilee of Artisans
• April 16, 2000: Palm Sunday
• May 1, 2000: Jubilee of workers
• May 7, 2000: Commemoration of witnesses of the 20th century
• May 18, 2000: Jubilee of priests
• May 25, 2000: Jubilee of Scientists
• May 28, 2000: Jubilee of Diocese of Rome
• June 2, 2000: Jubilee of Migrants
• June 4, 2000: Jubilee of Journalists
• June 18-25, 2000: International Eucharistic Congress
• June 22, 2000: Solemnity Corpus Christi
• July 9, 2000: Jubilee in Prisons
• August 15–20, 2000: World Youth Day
• September 11, 2000: Jubilee of University World
• September 15, 2000: Jubilee of Apostolic Nuncios
• September 17, 2000: Jubilee of Senior Citizens
• October 7–8, 2000: Jubilee of Bishops
• October 14–15, 2000: Jubilee of Families
• October 22, 2000: World Mission Sunday
• October 29, 2000: Jubilee of the World of Sports
• November 1, 2000: 50th Anniversary of the dogma of the Assumption of Mary
• November 5, 2000: Jubilee of Statements and Politicians
• November 12, 2000: Jubilee of Agricultural World
• November 19, 2000: Jubilee of Armed Forces and Police
• November 26, 2000: Jubilee of the Apostolate of the Laity
• December 3, 2000: Jubilee of Communities with persons with a disability
• December 10, 2000: Jubilee of Catechists and Teachers of religion
• December 17, 2000: Jubilee of the Entertainment World
• January 6, 2001: Closing of Holy Door at St. Peter's Basilica

Other events

Arvo Pärt was commissioned to compose a work for the occasion, and wrote Cecilia, vergine romana (Cecilia, Roman virgin) for mixed choir and orchestra. The Italian text deals with the life and martyrdom of Saint Cecilia, the patron saint of music. The work was first performed on 19 November 2000, close to her feast day on 22 November, by the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia conducted by Myung-whun Chung.^[6]

See also

• Tertio Millennio Adveniente
• Novo Millennio Ineunte
• "Jubilee Song", an English-language Filipino song written to coincide with the Great Jubilee
• New evangelization

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Great Jubilee.

• The Great Jubilee of the Year 2000
• News of the Great Jubilee Year
• The Holy See - Jubilee 2000