VATICAN CITY, JAN 8, 2001 (VIS) - At midday today in the Holy See Press Office, Cardinal Roger Etchegaray and Archbishop Crescenzio Sepe, respectively president and secretary of the Central Committee for the Great Jubilee 2000, discussed the Apostolic Letter, "Novo Millennio ineunte," and presented some final assessments on the activity of their committee.
Cardinal Etchegaray affirmed that, in considering the Letter, "it as if we are standing before a tryptic where the central panel ... is the contemplation of the face of Christ." In one of the other two panels "we may read the events that have characterized this Jubilee, ... each of which held a particular evangelical message. ... In the third panel a program is laid out for the life of the Church that opens us 'to a future of hope.' The overriding image is the same as the one that opens John Paul II's Letter: 'duc in altum,' we must 'put out into the deep'."
Archbishop Crescenzio Sepe then spoke, giving information and results regarding the Jubilee Year, and highlighting that "attendance went far beyond the most optimistic forecasts." For example, "compared to 1999, there was an enormous increase in people coming from Eastern Europe." Furthermore, "a detailed analysis of the arrivals, classified by age, region and geographic area of origin, confirms that the Jubilee has truly involved everyone."
Among other statistics, the secretary of the Jubilee Committee mentioned the 21 national pilgrimages, and those from 150 Italian and 50 foreign dioceses. To these he added the 30 special Jubilee Days and the one hundred pilgrimages by various categories of people. Moreover, the Jubilee was celebrated for the first time by the former Soviet republics of Central Asia, by North Korea and by continental China; while 10,000 young people in Khartoum, Sudan, celebrated a Jubilee to coincide with World Youth Day in Rome.
"It must also be stated," said the archbishop, "that this great spiritual event has had, and will continue to have, important social repercussions," and he quoted the Pope's appeals regarding international debt, social justice, the defence of nature and the condition of prisoners. "I would also like to give the lie to the idea that, in these matters, results have been lacking. Many countries - among them Italy, Switzerland and Norway - have approved laws that aim to reduce and, in some cases, cancel outright, the debts that the more disadvantaged nations have accrued with them. ... Also positive, on the whole, has been the response to the appeal ... for a gesture of clemency towards prisoners. There have been concrete initiatives from at least ten countries, from Spain to Nigeria, from Malawi to Chile and from India to Madagascar."
Francesco Silvano, delegate for telecommunications and computer services, recalled that during the Jubilee Year an internet system was created that enabled all continents to be connected through internet points placed in apostolic nunciatures and episcopal conferences.
Carlo Balestrero, administrative delegate, spoke of the expenses involved in organizing the Jubilee and stated that, although specific information on the closing balance was still not available, financial management had aimed at the greatest possible economy and had always borne in mind that any credit balance would go to a charitable work chosen by the Holy Father.
Angelo Scelzo, coordinator of publications, highlighted the main objective of the Communication and Documentation Office, that of creating an information system dedicated to the themes of the Great Jubilee including such publications as "Tertium Millennium," "The Pilgrim's Journal" and the daily news bulletin sent to the main information media.
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