PRESENTATION OF THE JUBILEE OF THE HANDICAPPED

VATICAN CITY, NOV 29, 2000 (VIS) - Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, president of the central committee for the Jubilee, today presided at a press conference in the Holy See Press Office to present the celebration this coming weekend of the Jubilee of the Handicapped. He began by stating that "of all the pilgrimages of the Holy Year, this is, without a doubt, the one which brings us most deeply into the mystery of God's love."

We have made great progress in helping the handicapped and their families, the cardinal said. "We are used to living among them, but do we really know them? We cross their paths but don't get close to them. ... In a hurry or distracted we have difficulty in paying attention to the lives of others; and even more we stay away from those lives which are not like others and which turn our value system upside down. However. those who are handicapped are the best witnesses of life, of real life: their desire to live is stronger than their wounds or disabilities."

Archbishop Crescenzio Sepe, general secretary of the Jubilee committee, noted that December 3 was chosen as the date for this Jubilee celebration because that is the day that the United Nations is dedicating to the handicapped, and "we wanted to respect a tradition which already exists in every country."

Pointing to the great spiritual value of this particular celebration, the archbishop that the Jubilee of the Handicapped, "more than any other Jubilee day, reminds all of us together of the values of our humanity and of our capacity to be and to feel like brothers in the name of Christ."

Msgr. Elvio Damoli, director of Italian Caritas, laid out the calendar of events of the December 2-3 Jubilee celebrations, indicating that 12,000 pilgrims from 15 countries will participate: 7,500 handicapped and 4,500 family members and assistants.

On Saturday, December 2 there will be moments of prayer in 20 Roman parishes. On Sunday, Pope John Paul will preside at a Eucharistic celebration at 10 a.m. in the basilica of St. Paul's Outside-the-Walls. Handicapped persons will be active protagonists of the liturgy, serving as lectors, readers of the prayers of the faithful and to bring up the offertory gifts. Music will be performed by the Esagramma Orchestra of Milan, some of whose members are handicapped.

On Sunday afternoon there will be a festive celebration in the Paul VI Hall. During the second half Pope John Paul will be present.

Don Mario Carrera, director of the "Don Guanella Work" which provides care for the elderly and assistance and education for needy and handicapped children, affirmed that the disabled "are not broken machines that have to be mended, but creatures that must be helped to live; their lives are infinitely more important than their disabilities."

After indicating that there are people with physical disabilities (reduced mobility), sensorial disability (blindness, deafness) and mental disability (psychic disturbances), Fr. Carrera affirmed that "more than 500 million people in the world live with some kind of disability. Eighty-five percent of them (women, children, men) live in the developing countries."

The director of the "Don Guanella Work" indicated that it is important "to increase scientific research" in order to confront different kinds of disability; to allow the disabled "access to participation in social life ... (and in) education," and to "increase their work opportunities."

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