Te Deum of thanksgiving in the Church of St Ignatius, Rome December 31st 1996

«I deeply hope that the commitment of all to give the city a face more consonant with the values of faith, culture and civilization that emanate from its vocation and its 2000-year-old history, will never be lacking, particularly in view of the Great Jubilee of the year 2000. I would particularly like to thank the Lord for the results achieved in this year now ending, during which, as the second millennium draws to a close, we have begun our immediate preparation for the Great Jubilee.

I still have before my eyes the magnificent spectacle of the last Vigil of Pentecost. On that occasion the various components of the Church in Rome, Bishops, priests, religious families and lay faithful, representing the entire People of God, solemnly began their immediate preparation for the Holy Year by starting the great city mission».

From the homily during Mass on the Solemnity of the Epiphany January 6th 1997

«It is the Lamb of God, the Shepherd of Shepherds who is asking you to extend and spread his charity in the wondrous Body of the Church and in every part of the world, during these years of preparation for the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000. Strengthened by his help, go forth without hesitating; be faithful and courageous apostles of Christ, proclaiming and witnessing to the Gospel, the light than illumines all peoples. Do not be afraid! Christ is with us every day until the end of the world».

To a group of French Bishops, January 11th 1997.

«World Youth Day will soon be held in Paris after all the dioceses of France have gathered young people from the whole world. I am grateful to everyone who is working for the success of this meeting, because these gatherings inspire great hope: young people share their approaches to faith in Christ, who calls them to follow him: "Come and see". This event, to be held next August is part of the direct preparation for the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000, which started with renewed reflection on 'Jesus Christ, the one Saviour of the world, yesterday, today and for ever'. Help the faithful to rediscover their Baptism and the universal call to holiness, to strengthen their faith and witness».

From the speech during the General Audience January 22nd 1997

«This means that there must be more intense efforts of spiritual ecumenism - consisting in conversion of heart, renewal of mind, personal and shared prayer - and theological dialogue. These efforts must increase precisely as we approach the Great Jubilee, an exceptional occasion for all Christians to join together in bringing the Good News of reconciliation to the generations of the new millennium».

To Bishops of the Northern region of France on their ad limina visit. January 18th 1997

«I thank Bishop Michel Saudreau of Le Harve, president of your Apostolic Region, for his words recalling the warm and attentive welcome of the French people during my recent visit to your country and for his presentation of some of your joint pastoral approaches to help people discover God the Holy Trinity. Your efforts fit into the frame-work of preparations for the Great Jubilee».

To some members of the NeoCatechumen Way, January 24th 1997

«Your visit today offers me a happy occasion to join in your hymn of praise and thanksgiving for the "great things" (magnalia) which God is doing in the experience of the Way. Its history belong to that blossoming of movements and ecclesial groups which is one of the most beautiful fruits sof the spiritual renewal begun by the Second Vatican Council. This flourishing was and still is a great gift of the Holy Spirit and a radiant sign of hope on the threshold of the Third Millennium.

(...) for the year 1998, which within the framework of preparation for the Great Jubilee is dedicated to the Holy Spirit, I am hoping for a common witness of all the ecclesial movements, under the guidance of the Pontifical Council for the Laity. It will be a moment of communion and renewed commitment in the service of the Church's mission. I am certain that you will not fail to keep this significant appointment».

From the homily during the Mass for the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, the first World day of Consecrated Life. February 2nd 1997

«May your mission in the Church and in the world be light and source of hope. Together with the elderly Simeon and the Prophetess Anna let us go to meet the Lord in his Temple. Let us welcome the light of his Revelation, committing ourselves to spreading it to our brothers and sisters, in view of the now imminent Great Jubilee of the Year Two Thousand».

January 25th, 1997 From the message for the 31st World Communication Day which will be celebrated May 11th 1997.

«As the present century and millennium draw to a close, we see an unprecedented expansion of the means of social communications, with ever new products and services. Is there still place for Christ in the traditional mass media? May we claim a place for him in the new media? In the Church, the year 1997, as the first part of a three-year period of preparation for the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000, is being devoted to reflection on Christ, the Word of God, made man by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Appropriately therefore, the theme of World Communications Day is "Communicating Jesus Christ: the Way, the Truth and the Life" (cf Jn 14,6). This theme provides an opportunity for the Church to meditate and act on the specific contributions which the communications media can offer in making known the Good News of salvation in Jesus Christ. With due respect for the communications activities of the individual Churches and Ecclesial Communities, it would be a significant ecumenical achievement if Christians could cooperate more closely with one another in the media as they prepare to celebrate the forthcoming Great Jubilee.

The two thousand years which have passed since the birth of Christ represent an extraordinary commemoration for humanity as a whole, given the prominent role played by Christianity during these two millennia. It is surely appropriate that the mass media should pay tribute to that contribution. Perhaps one of the finest gifts we could offer to Jesus Christ on the two thousandth anniversary of his birth would be that the Good News will at last be made know to every person in the world - first of all through the living witness of Christian example but also through the media».

February 11th 1997 From the Pope's address on the occasion of the 5th World Day of the Sick.

«The official celebration is taking place today at the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, particularly dear to me and highly significant in the present phase of preparation for the Jubilee of the Year 2000. The Blessed Virgin's message at Fatima - as at Lourdes - is a call to conversion and penance, without which there can be no authentic Jubilee.

For the human person sickness is also a call to conversion, to entrust oneself entirely to Christ, the one source of salvation for every man and for the whole man. The theme of the convention sponsored by the Opera Romana Pellegrinaggi, which re-echoes the universal call of the first year of preparation for the Jubilee, invites us to do this. Every year the Opera Romana Pellegrinaggi suggests a prophetic gesture of peace: this year it plans a pilgrimage to Hebron to the tombs of the Patriarchs, a holy place for the three great monotheistic religions, as a harbinger of peace in the Holy Land.

I pray that this initiative, in the name of our common father Abraham, may be the beginning of a new flowering of reconciliation pilgrimages for the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000. May Rome and Jerusalem become the poles of a universal pilgrimage of peace, sustained by faith in the one, good and merciful God. For this intention, I invite you dear sick people, to raise to the Lord fervent prayers enriched by the offering of your suffering».