TELEVISION PROGRAM BEING PREPARED FOR JUBILEE

VATICAN CITY, JUN 25, 1999 (VIS) - Tuesday, June 29, at 9 p.m. in the Paul VI Hall, the Central Committee for the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000 and RAI (Italian Radio and Television) will present, in the presence of the Pope, a live television program in Eurovision in preparation for the Jubilee.

A communique on the program indicates that testimonies, international linkups and performances by various artists are all programed. Nelson Mandela in South Africa, Kofi Annan, secretary-general of the United Nations in New York, and Neil Armstrong in Houston, on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of man's landing on the Moon, will join Cardinal Roger Etchegaray and Archbishop Crescenzio Sepe, respectively president and secretary-general of the central committee.

This television event will also provide the occasion for the world premier of the Jubilee hymn, "Christ Today." The event will conclude with the 'Antica Girondola' of Castel Sant'Angelo, a firework display which Popes, in past Jubilee years, offered to pilgrims on June 29. This practice has not taken place since the time of the Unification of Italy, according to the communique.

...;JUBILEE PROGRAM;...;...;VIS;19990625;Word: 210;