JUBILEES OF ARTISANS, OF WORKERS AND OF AGRICULTURE

VATICAN CITY, MAR 14, 2000 (VIS) - Jubilee celebrations will be held in coming months for various categories of workers, including artisans, laborers, businessmen, managers and those in the world of agriculture.
On Sunday, March 19, Solemnity of St. Joseph, husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 35,000 artisans from different countries will celebrate their Jubilee in Rome. This will be preceded by a prayer vigil at 9 p.m. on March 18 in the Basilica of St. John Lateran.

At 10 a.m. on March 19 in St. Peter's Square, the Pope will celebrate Mass. On that day in the Vatican, it is traditional for the Holy Father to receive workers from various trades and, sometimes, to visit them at their places of work. This year, during the offertory, a group of artisans will present the Pope with some typical products of their labors: ceramics, hand-made objects, lamps, a book of Gregorian chants produced by an artisan workshop and a brick as a symbol of construction.

Monday May 1, feast of St. Joseph the Worker, marks another great Jubilee event in Rome as it will bring together thousands of laborers, businessmen, managers, members of cooperatives and financial and business agents. That morning John Paul II is due to celebrate Mass in an open area at Rome's Tor Vergata University and in the afternoon the traditional concert of the feast of workers will be held. The theme of the day is to be the remission of debt of poor countries.

On Sunday November 12, in yet another celebration for workers, the agricultural world will meet in Rome to celebrate its Jubilee together with the Pope. On this day of thanksgiving for the gifts of creation, John Paul II will celebrate Mass in St. Peter's Square for all those who work in agriculture.

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