ORGANIZATIONAL ASPECTS OF THE JUBILEE OF THE YEAR 2000

VATICAN CITY, JAN 15, 1999 (VIS) - Cardinal Roger Etchegaray and Archbishop Crescenzio Sepe, respectively president and secretary general of the Central Committee of the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000, today presented the organizational aspects of the Jubilee at the Holy See Press Office,

Carlo Balestrero, administrative delegate; Luca Magri, general secretary of the "Pelegrinatio ad Petri Sedem"; Francesco Silvano, delegate for telecommunications and computer systems; Msgr. Liberio Andreatta, delegate for international and regional relations; Angelo Scelzo, coordinator of publications; Luca de Mata, responsible for the Jubilee Committee's Internet Office; and Donato Mosella, responsible for volunteers also took part in the press conference.

Archbishop Sepe announced several committee projects: the forthcoming publication of two books, "Pilgrims in Rome" and "Pilgrims in Prayer"; another book with practical information concerning a pilgrim's "typical day" and "typical week"; leaflets which include most of the celebrations scheduled on the Jubilee calendar; the official hymn of the Jubilee and the "Pro-Jubilee votive Mass."

Concerning the welcome of pilgrims, Msgr. Andreatta said that "agreements have already been signed or are to be signed to have 5,000 beds in religious institutes; 55,000 in hotels; and 5,000 on campsites or in boarding houses."

Dr. Francesco Silvano, delegate for telecommunications and computer systems, explained that the "agreement with Telecom Italia foresees the completion of an Intranet-Extranet network for the Jubilee, ... a network which today links 171 offices of apostolic nunciatures and episcopal conferences. ... There are 38 work stations currently active in Rome, linked to the Intranet network." He added that volunteers would be furnished with cell phones to facilitate their work load and allow for emergency services.

Dr. Silvano then pointed to a novelty of this Jubilee: the Pilgrim's Card, of which more than 10 million are scheduled to be produced for the SAC, or Central Welcoming System. These cards will contain, thanks to a memory chip, personal data on the card bearer, as well as health information and all pre-paid events and services for which the pilgrim has registered.

The computerized Welcoming Information System, he said, will provide all the classic services of tour operators: reservations for religious events and other meetings, transportation services, and bus parking spots, to name a few.

Donato Mosella spoke of the volunteers who will be needed for the Jubilee and their four specific functions: pastoral animation, welcoming in places of worship, assistance and information to pilgrims and care of the city, environment and cultural patrimony.

"According to estimates," he said, "in the year 2000 we will need about 54,000 volunteers for the 'ordinary' Jubilee and 51,000 for the big events, though in some cases there will be overlapping. Project Volunteer expects 75 percent of the volunteers to be from Italy, especially Rome, Lazio and nearby regions; 15 percent from neighboring European countries; 5 percent from the rest of Europe, 3 percent from the Americas, and 1.5 percent from Africa and Asia." He remarked that a computerized data bank would handle everything relative to volunteers: recruiting, organizing and training them, as well as their actual work during the Jubilee.

Luca De Mata focussed on the Jubilee committee's internet site. He said that, "in answer to the Holy Father's wish, the Central Committee of the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000 has created the site Jubil2000.org, which will become operative on February 22, 1999, the feast of the chair of St. Peter."

He explained that the site "is structured in seven languages - Italian, French, English, German, Spanish, Portuguese and Polish - and we hope to have Russian and Chinese in the future." He said that "30 volunteers are working full time in this office, .... with a secondary level of outside collaborators, ranging from cloistered religious to lay faithful involved in Church work."

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