"From an ecumenical point of view this will certainly be a very important year for Christians to look together to Christ the one Lord, deepening our commitments to become one in him, in accordance with his prayer to the Father". This affirmation made in the apostolic letter Tertio Millennio adveniente (no. 41) was assumed in the "preface" to the calendar for the Great Jubilee to introduce the ecumenical aspects, those explicitly marked on the calendar and those to be set in the coming future. In fact the Roman calendar for 2000, drafted by the Central Committee and approved by the Holy Father, already includes "some important meetings of an ecumenical dimension". Moreover, the preface continues, "others, such as the much desired all-Christian meeting, could be added. Contact is being made with the other Churches and ecclesial communities". The emphasis on the centrality of Christ and on the forgiveness which comes to us through his death and resurrection, of the role of the Holy Trinity in the plan of salvation, the foundation of the Word of God and of our common faith in the Trinitarian and Christological dogmas, render possible an ecumenical participation, even if the various Christian communities do not have the same attitude or customs regarding the Jubilee. But as far as we know, every Christian community intends to celebrate the Jubilee of the year 2000 in one way or another. The prospect of some common celebrations among Christians is becoming ever more consistent. The Roman calendar is positively open to this prospect.

1. The Opening of the Holy Door and the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

The first ecumenical event marked on the calendar is the "Week of Prayer for the Unity of Christians" (18-25 January). It has been decided that in Rome in 2000 this "Week" will be celebrated more intensely in the Basilicas as well as in the other Churches. This particular attention is shared by the International Mixed Committee composed of representatives of the Catholic Church and of the World Council of Churches. This is the committee which prepares the annual prayer programme distributed and locally adapted all over the world. A first project has been entrusted to a Middle East ecumenical group. The International Mixed Committee, which will then re-work the project to give it the characteristics necessary for international diffusion, will meet in the first week of the month of October 1998.

It is highly significant that the ecumenical dimension of the Jubilee should commence with prayer. The conciliar decree on ecumenism stated firmly that prayer is part of that central nucleus which it identifies as the "soul" of the entire search for full unity among Christians.

At the beginning of this Week the calendar foresees an important event. The start of the jubilee year will be symbolized by the opening of the Holy Door on Christmas Eve at Saint Peter's. The following day the ceremony will be repeated at the Basilicas of Saint John Lateran and Saint Mary Major. But at Saint Paul's the opening of the holy door will be postponed until January 18^th, to coincide with the beginning of the Week of Prayer for Unity among Christians. This alteration in view of a common celebration of the beginning of the Jubilee is a manifestation of the declared desire to give the jubilee celebration right from the start an ecumenical dimension as common reference to Jesus Christ who said: "I am the gate. Anyone who enters through me he will be safe; he will go freely in and out and be sure of finding pasture" (Jn 10,9).

In the history of the Holy Year – the first was established by Pope Boniface VIII in 1300 - Pope Martin V (1423) was the one who introduced the symbolic gesture of the opening of a Holy Door. But the Holy Year actually begins with the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, memorial of the death and resurrection of Christ, from whom we receive forgiveness and the great indulgence.

2. The Ecumenical Commemoration of the "New Martyrs"

On the third Sunday of Easter there will be a commemoration of the numerous Christians (Catholics, Orthodox, Anglicans and Protestants) who gave faithful witness to Christ during times of persecution – in this century in various parts of the world, some to the point of the supreme act of martyrdom.

"As far as possible - Pope John Paul II says - their witness should not be lost to the Church" (TMA 37). He explains: "At the end of the second millennium, the Church has once again become a Church of martyrs. The persecutions of believers – priests, religious and laity- has caused a great sowing of martyrdom in different parts of the world. The witness to Christ borne even to the shedding of blood has become a common inheritance of Catholics, Orthodox, Anglicans and Protestants". This testimony is not to be forgotten, indeed it is to be put before the Christian community and the whole world with a commemoration of common doxology to the Lord.

This is a far-sighted intuition of the Tertio Millennio adveniente since it emphasizes the active presence of the Spirit among all those who profess Jesus Christ as the only Saviour of the world and, consequently, demonstrates how the Christian goods of the various Churches and ecclesial Communities can serve for the edification of all. In this regard the various Christian communities have expressed in different forms their own particular interest. A common commemoration will be an ecumenical epiphany of the power of Grace.

3 An all-Christian Meeting

The "preface" to the calendar, as we said before, mentions the possibility of an all-Christian meeting saying that other Churches and Christian communities are being contacted. It is obvious that an event of this kind must be planned, prepared and celebrated together. The common ecumenical prayer of the various Christians present, among the representatives of many other religions, at the Day of Prayer for Peace in Assisi (1986), offers an example of how to proceed. The Holy Father in the TMA, in which he proposed the initiative, with careful attention to the underlying problems, says: "The ecumenical and universal character of the Sacred Jubilee can be fittingly reflected by a meeting of all Christians. This would be an event of great significance and so, in order to avoid misunderstandings, it should be properly presented and carefully prepared in an attitude of fraternal co-operation with the Christians of other denominations and traditions" (TMA 55). The development of the ecumenical movement as a whole and the progress made in theological dialogue provide a basis for a common and well-attended celebration. At the dawn of the third millennium Christians could declare to the world their faith in Jesus Christ, Lord and Saviour, committing themselves to work ever more intensely for full unity in order to proclaim, more effectively, the Christian kerygma to the new generations.

The ecumenical commission of the Central Committee for the Jubilee of the Year 2000, as well as the sub-commission, the mixed Working Group with the World Council of Churches, have expressed their conviction that such an event is both possible and desirable. But precisely because it is common, it must be decided and prepared together by the Churches and ecclesial communities interested.

4. The ecumenical dimension of every celebration

The calendar includes also a hidden dimension not immediately apparent. The event of the Jubilee of the year 2000 is in itself densely ecumenical. The intention is to commemorate the incarnation of the Word of God "who for us men and for our salvation" became man and died on the cross for the redemption of all. This is a profession of faith common to all Christians. Therefore even a small celebration in a remote village – Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, or Protestant – has its own ecumenical dimension. It is obvious that if this dimension is underlined either by prayer for or with other Christians it assumes also the form of witness to the existing unity and the desire for full unity.

Latent in the Roman calendar, is the concern that every celebration, including those attended only by Catholics, should be attentive to other Christians, in order to avoid new misunderstandings and also to promote communion. It is not that during the Jubilee ecumenical problems can be solved. This falls to theological dialogue. But the Jubilee will be able to invest in what Pope John Paul calls, in the Ut Unum Sint encyclical letter,the fruits of ecumenism.

5. In the local Churches

In the "preface" to the calendar it is said: "The local Churches are also invited to find, together with their Christian brothers and sisters, possible forms of common celebrations during the Holy Year, which can become an occasion of encounter, prayer and dialogue among all Christians". The calendar does not limit itself to this affirmation, it also says in no less than eight places that "guidelines will be prepared also for the local Churches". The celebration of the Jubilee in the local Churches is an essential component of the Great Jubilee of 2000. The Holy Father has said that the actual celebration of the Great Jubilee will "take place simultaneously in the Holy Land, in Rome and in the local Churches throughout the world" (TMA 55). The overall orientation of the Roman calendar may be used by the local Churches for the preparation of their own calendar suited to their own situation and traditions. For example, the Roman calendar indicates – and it could not be otherwise – practices of popular piety typical of the Church of the West, not found in the Oriental Catholic Churches. Adaptation to the different situations is indispensable. Moreover, in the different local Churches there may exist aspects of concrete tension between Christians or on the contrary particular possibilities for communion an co-operation. Prayer for unity, commemoration of local witnesses, the encounter of all the Churches and communities which exist in a given place, these are truly fruitful prospects for a worthy common local celebration.

Concluding observations

For the realization of the ecumenical aspects of the Jubilee, contact is being made among the Churches to decide about the possibility and concrete modalities of common events and also reciprocal invitations. The Patriarch of Constantinople has proposed that for the feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord (August 6^th 2000) every Christian community, each in its own place, should hold a prayer vigil. This vigil could vary in style. According to circumstances there could be a vigil among members of only one Church or among members of the different Churches present in a given place. But they would all aim at expressing the faith and the call, revealed in the episode of the transfiguration: "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. listen to him!" (My17,5). It is in fact through listening to the Word of God that full communion will be found. The Roman calendar for the Jubilee has accepted the proposal and has marked a vigil between the 5^th and 6^th August 2000 as "a response to the appeal made by Patriarch Bartolomaios I of Constantinople". Reciprocal invitations among the Churches will certainly be made during the Jubilee. The Catholic Church is ready to invite and just as ready to accept invitations. The purpose is the same indicated to Catholics by the TMA, to put together all that we have in common. In this sense, also regarding ecumenism, the celebration of the Jubilee should be an occasion of gratitude to God, of joy for the re-discovery of greater communion, and of commitment to reach that full communion which the Lord desires for his disciples.