The official calendar of the next Holy Year announces an extraordinary event for all the politicians of the world. In fact, by taking hold of the desire for a full representation of Italian parliamentarians, which gave the push to the creation of the sub-committee, "Parliamentarians for the Jubilee" (made up of about 150 senators and deputies), the Holy Father John Paul II has set aside November 5 of 2000 (a Sunday) as the "Jubilee for those responsible for public life." In other words, the Jubilee of those elected by the people or by their representatives, is placed above all parliamentarians as the maximum expression of popular will. It is the first time, in the history of the Church, that the politicians of all the planet are called to live, with the successor of Peter, a particular moment of reflection and of prayer in the sphere of a Jubilee year, which is in turn dedicated to reconciliation and forgiveness. It is a unique occasion, therefore, to also reaffirm the true role of politics and of politicking, understood as a service to all men and not as an exercise abuse of personal power. In this sense, the politicians must really need to ask forgiveness, for the simple reason of not yet having understood that peace is prosperity, to which all races aspire, it is not based on strategies dictated by relationships of strength or on balances of diplomacy, but on concrete acts of justice and of comprehension.

The Italian sub-committee, "Parliamentarians for the Jubilee," suggested an awareness of conscience to all the Parliaments and Parliamentarians of the world, through a pragmatic document, which also indicated three fundamental objectives to attain choices of civility that lead to legislative acts, common to all nations, in the moment in which humanity gives birth to a new millennium in its history. The objectives are: foreign debt, freedom of religion and the dignity of the human person. In dealing with foreign debt, certainly the principle that debts must be repaid is correct; however it is not legal to ask or expect payment when this would lead to political choices that would lead to hunger or desperation and, very often, to war between entire populations. John Paul II, at the beginning of his Pontificate, speaking in Lima, Peru, forcefully highlighted that "the problem of international debt is not just a financial issue or an economic one, it is not even really a political one, rather, it is an ethic and moral issue. It must be examined and should foster solutions in the principle of solidarity between people and nations."

Religious freedom, today, which is still limited and restricted (we need only think about what happens in Pakistan or in other south eastern countries) is the premise and the guarantee of all freedoms. It is a bulwark against all totalitarianism, and prevents the escape to temptations of intolerance and sectarianism, and can give a decisive contribution to human fraternity.

Lastly, the dignity of the person. "The dignity of the person," says the Pope again, "is the only solid base of a social system capable of giving the right direction to human relations and to encourage comprehension, cooperation and reciprocal dialogue." Taking this premise to heart, the Italian sub-committee, "Parliamentarians for the Jubilee," wants to bring all the parliamentarians of the world together to discuss and codify a common course on violence towards children (who today are exploited on many fronts, like the black labor market, or in pornography), on women, especially the weakest and most defenseless ones; on genetic manipulation and on the fascinating, but sometimes worrying conquests of science; on the environment and safeguarding it; on the production and use of drugs; on the indiscriminate use of the human body; on the punishment and the detention of those who are guilty towards other people and towards society, with a clear and reasoned discussion on the use of the death penalty. To this end, the "Parliamentarians for the Jubilee" have asked and are asking all the countries where it is still practiced, to suspend the use of capital punishment at least in the year where, crossing the threshold of a new millennium, men are called to take great pains to comprehend and move towards peace. In order to favor a more vast dialogue, at an international level, on themes to discuss, it was also thought to organize, beginning from the second half of 1999, five continental conventions which will be held in the cities which are the most representative of each continent. From a cultural standpoint, the "Parliamentarians for the Jubilee," in synthesis with "Tertio Millennio Adveniente" offer particular attention to the problem of inter-religious dialogue and especially amongst the three monotheistic religions. It is a dialogue that, in a final analysis, can favor in a determining way, the solutions of the problem of religious freedom in many countries. To this end, the choice of Jerusalem is significant: a sacred city for Christians, Jews and Muslims, as a second point of reference, together with Rome, the Episcopal seat of the Vicar of Christ, for the ‘universal’ calendar of the Holy Year, which for the first time is not aimed just at Catholics, but to all Christians and to all men of good will.

For this reason, it was agreed that all those responsible for public life would begin their walk towards the Jubilee precisely in Jerusalem and from the land where Jesus was born, lived, and announced the Good News, died and was resurrected. Then, following the footprints of Paul, the Apostle, on a boat, the true pilgrimage to Rome to encounter the Jubilee with Peter. During the trip, and along the major stops (like Efeso, Corinth, Athens, Malta, Syracuse, Meson and Reggio Calabria) there will be moments of comparison of the three great themes of reflection which we have indicated and events which will involve the most diverse expressions of society. To call those elected by the people and gather them around the meanings and the motivations of the Jubilee also means reflecting on the ideological, social, political and cultural transformations which have marked our century which is about to come to an end. Culture and politics are called to answer the challenge which now bring man into play "in all the dimensions of his existence, in all that characterizes his humanity," to use the words spoken by John Paul II at UNESCO. Answers which, cannot ignore the needs and the aspirations of the people. That is why we feel that the Great Jubilee of 2000, other than just being a great spiritual event for Catholics, will also be especially a great event for all the people and nations of the world. For the rest, was not the first Jubilee of history, decreed by Boniface VIII in 1300, an initiative of a populist nature? It was the people who asked with a loud voice for a plenary indulgence to begin the new century and even if in the chronicles of the Church it was never registered as a holy year, the Pope, nonetheless, decided to concede "in this year 1300 and for the subsequent years turning the century, not only the full and vast, but the fullest forgiveness of sins" (Bolla "Antiquorum habet fida relatio"). A great event of faith and of people, therefore, even the upcoming Jubilee of 2000: an epochal appointment for all those people who are called to represent and interpret the will of the people, it cannot be missed, because the politics of the end and the beginning of the millennium must be the politics which rewrite and finally understand the prophecy.