JUBILEE OF CATECHISTS AND TEACHERS OF RELIGION

VATICAN CITY, DEC 5, 2000 (VIS) - In the Holy See Press Office today, Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos and Archbishop Csaba Ternyak, respectively prefect and secretary of the Congregation for the Clergy, presented the Jubilee of Catechists and Teachers of Religion.

This Jubilee will be held in Rome on December 9 and 10 and 7,500 catechists and teachers of religion are due to participate. "It is hoped," said the cardinal, "that, above all, (this Jubilee) will give catechists and teachers of religion the interior enrichment that arises from the earnest desire to convert to the paths of the Lord. Catechists are fundamental to the growth of the Kingdom of Christ in history, and to the great launch of a common ecclesial journey of catechism and religious teaching, a priority journey that harmonizes with the needs of the age.

"The Jubilee," he went on, "is also an opportunity for everyone, but especially for adults, to undertake this journey, together with priests, with deacons, with men and women religious, with all the numerous lay faithful who are already generously committed to sacramental parish catechism, and with all those, young and less young, who wish to come together to help themselves and others to rediscover Christian faith as a criterion of life."

Archbishop Ternyak outlined the Jubilee program. Events will begin on December 9 with a Eucharistic celebration in the basilica of St. Paul's Outside-the-Walls presided by Cardinal James F. Stafford, president of the Pontifical Council for the Laity. In the Paul VI Hall at 4:30 p.m., Cardinal Castrillon will present some reflections on the perspectives of the new evangelization in the catechesis of the third millennium. Following this, a presentation will take place of the different aspects of catechesis and the instruments that can be used in catechetical work. Taking part will be, among others, a sculptor, a musician, a psychiatrist, a religious, a teacher of religion and the founder of the Neocatechumenal Way, Kiko Arguello. There will be a concert of classical music in St. Mary Major Basilica at 9 p.m.

At 9:30 a.m. on Sunday, December 10, the Pope will preside at a Eucharistic celebration in the Vatican Basilica. In the Paul VI Hall at 4:30 p.m., Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, will deliver a speech entitled: "The new evangelization." The event will conclude with a discussion and testimonials.

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