THE JUBILEE HAS A STRONGLY ECUMENICAL CHARACTER

VATICAN CITY, JAN 16, 2000 (VIS) - Prior to praying the angelus, the Pope reminded the faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square that on Tuesday, January 18, the Prayer Week for Christian Unity begins. "On the occasion of the Jubilee year," said the Pope, "this takes on an even greater importance. The Great Jubilee 2000 has a strongly ecumenical character."

The Pope continued: "In order to underscore this fundamental aspect of the Holy Year we, together with a delegation representing numerous Churches and ecclesial communities, will go to the Basilica of St. Paul's Outside the Walls to open the Holy Door in a solemn ecumenical celebration."

John Paul II said that "only with God's help is it possible to progress along the road to unity, overcoming the divisions created in the Christian world during the course of the second millennium. I give thanks to God that, in the Basilica of St. Paul, I will have the joy to meet and pray with representatives from the principal Churches and ecclesial communities. To them, I would now like to extend a cordial welcome. We will ask pardon from God and from one another for the sins perpetrated against the unity of the Church. At the same time, we will give thanks for progress made along the path to reconciliation, especially over the last century. I invite all believers to unite in our prayer in order that the start of the third millennium may see a promising development in ecumenical relations."

After affirming that this year the theme for the Prayer Week is taken from an expression of St. Paul: "Blessed be God ... who has blessed us in Christ," the Holy Father explained that this theme "has been prepared in the Middle East by a work group which represents the various Christian confessions present in the land of Jesus." He concluded by recalling that tomorrow Italy celebrates the Day for religious dialogue between Jews and Christians.

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