THE SIGNS OF HOPE
Peace
The Year of the Holy Spirit is also the year of hope. Peace, in a century marked by two world wars, certainly represents one of the deepest hopes of humanity in this change of millennium. In the Message the Pope addresses to the world every year, the Holy Father once again indicated the essential points for an authentic peace process among men and peoples. Archbishop Jean Louis Tauran, Secretary for Relations with States, Professor Giuseppe Dalla Torre and the historian Andrea Riccardi propose an in-depth reading path of the various chapters of the document.
Peoples
The Pope's pilgrimages have become an important element in the commitment to realise the Second Vatican Council. (Â
) The current pontificate has further widened that programme, starting from Mexico, on occasion of the III General Conference of the Latin American Episcopate, held in Puebla in 1979. (Â
) Pilgrimages have become systematic, reaching the particular Churches in every continent, with careful attention to the development of ecumenical relations with Christians of the different confessions. In these extracts drawn from Tertio Millennio Adveniente there is the whole jubilee sense of the Holy Father's pilgrimage. His latest pastoral visit to the island of Cuba, could not but give a strong sign, as a pilgrimage of the hope of a peace, to a whole year dedicated to the Holy Spirit.
The Comment
Christian existence in the same way as consecrated life is intimately marked by the «cloud of the Spirit» (Mt 17:5) On Mount Nabor the cloud is the image of the Spirit: «Like the whole of Christian existence, also the call to consecrated life is intimately linked with the work of the Holy Spirit» (Consecrated Life, 19).What does the presence of the Holy Spirit consist in concretely and what is the significance of its gifts? The article of theologian Angelo Amato on following pages
The Testimony
Susanna Tamaro
