Technical Committee

THE SIGN OF SOLIDARITY IN THE NEED TO WELCOME

Alfonso Ippolito

To begin with, a mute point: the Peregrinatio Ad Petri Sedem cannot be assimilated by an Agency. Its visitors are not tourists, but pilgrims, that is the people who come to Rome to see, for the most part, the sacred sites and therefore should be offered spiritual support instead of just logistical support. Therefore, it is an organism that deals with the welcoming of pilgrims, in an integral sense, or at least those who want to transform their experience in Rome into an event of faith and for this they need environments which know how to offer hospitality, even with regards to the necessities of the spirit.

The idea of putting into existence a fixed and lasting structure with this aim came by the Holy See in 1933, which decided then to coordinate and assist the pilgrims that came to Italy and Rome to "the See of Peter," whose name is now that of the organization, in particular of the Jubilee years.

In 1996, the work of the president and administrator was given to S.E. Monsignor Sergio Sebastiani, the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000. In this way, the role of the Peregrinatio was officiated, whose "operating arm" is the Central Committee in charge of the organization of all the services related to the welcome: from the search for beds to places to eat and to transportation, giving priority to the religious institutes and then to the extra-hotel structures, who offer the solution of bed and breakfast.

«When we speak of beds - Archbishop Sebastiani specifies - we also speak of the coordination of people, from the aspect of security and to an entire series of health aspects, which we try to deal with in collaboration with the various committees, groups and commissions. For example: with regards to health, there is a specific commission which deals with the sanitary aspects, also tied to those emergency cases. Therefore, we do not deal with the organization of health, but we integrate with other committees, all be it that we identify and take note of eventual problems that can arise».

Speaking of Committees. It must be said that for this Great Jubilee, as the Pope has defined it, the Technical Committee, in collaboration with the Peregrinatio, is providing a capillary computer network which will allow for the integration in real time with the 113 National Committees of the Jubilee, which have been constituted locally throughout the world. These system, developed for the upcoming Jubilee, will continue to exist even after the year 2000.

Obviously, the spiritual aspect has its own place of relevance, so much so that it was offered to a Pastoral Council made up of 14 priests. They will deal with curing the religious aspect of welcoming the pilgrims, trying to give competent answers and especially practical ones to the growing questions that arise in the search for God during pilgrimages. All this will take place without forgetting about the practical-organizational needs of the pilgrim.

Therefore, using the words of Pope John Paul II in the Apostolic Letter Tertio Millennio Adveniente, «so that the great challenge of the year 2000 is not neglected, everyone is invited to do what is in their power», without neglecting the theological understandings of our time, because these are also the fruits of human intelligence, gift of God, which must be put at the service of the pilgrim Church towards the future city.