CONSISTORY REFLECTS UNITY, UNIVERSALITY OF THE CHURCH

VATICAN CITY, MAY 21, 2001 (VIS) - The extraordinary consistory of the College of Cardinals commenced at 9 this morning with brief remarks by Cardinal Bernardin Gantin, dean of the college, the recitation of the Third Hour, a greeting from Pope John Paul and two reports on the Jubilee Year 2000 by Cardinals Roger Etchegaray and Crescenzio Sepe. Following a break, the 155 cardinals met again from 11 to 12:30, during which there were 16 individual speeches.

Cardinal Gantin greeted the Holy Father on the part of all 183 members of the College of Cardinals, including those who, for good reason, could not be present at the consistory. He thanked the Pope for having "faith" in the cardinals as they meet to reflect on the "concrete and operative ways" in which the Church can respond to the grace of the Jubilee Year 2000. "We are filled with joy at being close to you in the service that Your Holiness offers to the Church and the world with farsightedness and a dedication which is generous and borne with suffering. We are also happy to be together again for the fraternal moments which the consistory offers us."

Pope John Paul, in his remarks, noted that "the composition of this venerable assembly, which brings together cardinals from every corner of the earth and belonging to the most varied cultures, demonstrates well the unity, universality and missionary nature of the Church."

He said that "the meeting which starts this morning is as important as ever and is ideally linked to the Great Jubilee, whose echoes are still alive in all of us. .. I pray to the Spirit, who allowed us to live extraordinary ecclesial experiences, to continue to lead us and help us see the challenges emerging in the current passage of a millennium."

The Holy Father recalled that in "Novo millennio ineunte," he had "underscored the need to highlight well the 'concrete traits of a program' for the evangelizing action of the Church at the dawn of the third millennium. It is a matter of focussing on priority missionary objectives and the most suitable work methods, as well as seeking the means necessary."

"In these days," he concluded, "we will be listening to reflections and testimonials; we will fraternally face pastoral problems and challenges; we will seek together the most suitable methods for being, still today, credible signs of God's love for man."

Cardinal Roger Etchegaray presented a brief report on the celebrations of the Jubilee of the Year 2000.

"Throughout the entire city, the 'Orbis'," he said, "the particular Churches, even the most distant, gave evidence of great vitality by participating in a lively way in the Jubilee dance before the Lord."

Referring to the numerous ecumenical initiatives of the Jubilee, Cardinal Etchegaray affirmed that "one of the most evocative was the opening by six hands: Catholic, Orthodox, and Anglican, of the door of St. Paul's Outside the Walls! But how can it not be regretted that the Jubilee was not even able to arrange the dream that the Pope has cherished since 'Tertio millennio adveniente' (1994): a Pan-Christian encounter. Oh! simply an encounter in the most natural place, in the land of Christ."

Cardinal Etchegaray emphasized the social aspect "of a Jubilee which has revived its own Biblical roots, what the Bull of Indiction calls 'the challenge of charity'." John Paul II "goes still further, asking the Church, 'the witness of Christian poverty', to go from being a Church for the poor to an entirely poor Church. Here perhaps we touch upon the most provocative question, the most provocative, the most urgent for the evangelization of the new millennium. Only a poor Church can become a missionary Church and only a missionary Church can necessitate a poor Church."

Following this, Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, presented his report concerning the results of the Jubilee.

The Jubilee, Cardinal Sepe said, "is the extraordinary result of a long and 'ordinary' process of ecclesial renewal, begun with Vatican Council II and continued with the 'new evangelization' of John Paul II."

"The true protagonist of the Jubilee of 2000 was the people of God, who, with their witness of prayer, sacrifice, and piety, revealed the face of sanctity which shines in the Church. We have seen this people respond with readiness and generosity to the call of the Pope."

Cardinal Sepe emphasized that "remaining in us today as one of the most important signs of the Holy Year is the strong return and, in some way, the great rediscovery of the Sacrament of Confession considered by many, and for years, to be in crisis."

Referring to the Jubilee pilgrimages, the cardinal noted that "the numbers well surpassed the most optimistic provisions. ... It is enough to think that from the Eastern European countries, that celebrated their first Jubilee, approximately a million pilgrims came: 185 percent more than last year."

"Yet the most significant fact," Cardinal Sepe continued, "was the orderliness, devotion, silence, and concentration of the pilgrims, who gave a serious, profound, and motivated image of their Jubilee participation."

Cardinal Sepe concluded his discourse affirming that: "All of the strong and abundant motivations, prompted by the Jubilee, need to be considered with hindsight, closely examined, and, above all, put into effect by a pastoral plan which can be applied in the context of individual ecclesial realities."

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