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THE JUBILEE IN THE WORLD
Asia

PAKISTAN
Publications and audio-visual instruments

The National Committee for the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000 has started preparations for the end of millennium appointment keeping in mind the pastoral needs of a Catholic population, half of which is illiterate and which expresses itself using the Urdu national language. In 1996 the Pastoral letter Tertio Millennio Adveniente was translated into Urdu, and a booklet was published entitled Bari Khushi ki Basharat, that is Good News of great joy: a true and proper pastoral plan to help priests and catechists in the preparatory phase. For 1997 a pamphlet entitled Who is Jesus was published and circulated, with a simple presentation of the figure of Jesus Saviour and an invitation to the faith. The prayer of the Holy Father for 1997 and the one to the Holy Spirit for 1998 were also published in English and in Urdu. Last September, the directors of the 16 Catholic periodicals which are published in the country were also sent to a study and direction encounter on the themes of the Jubilee, and they committed themselves to circulate the themes of Tertio Millennio Adveniente in the respective magazines and publications.

The production of audiocassettes is essential for the requirements of the majority of the Catholic population. A first cassette with chants and religious hymns in Urdu, entitled Nai Zameen, naya Asmaan, New skies and new land, was produced by the National Media Centre, while for 1998 two cassettes are planned with hymns to the Holy Spirit. This material can in practice be circulated in every family, even in the more rural and isolated areas. A videocassette on the meaning of the Great Jubilee is planned, which will also be very useful as a pastoral aid. The programme of catechesis and celebrations for 1998 and 1999 is based on the use of these aids and on an intense activity on the part of priests and catechists. Finally the Bishops of Pakistan, supported by the National Committee are preparing a joint pastoral letter inspired to the year of the Holy Spirit and directed at the year 2000.

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