FROM PARIS TO ROME

J. Francis Stafford

President of the Pontifical Council for the Laity

I have been asked to take some ideas for the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000 from the experience of the Journées Mondiales de la Jeunesse 1997 in Paris (JMJ). My reflections will focus in particular on six main themes:

1. The Unifying Theme of the JMJ;
2. The importance of catechesis;
3. The model of faith;
4. The preliminary reception in the chosen French dioceses;
5. Logistics;
6. The Jubilee implications.

1) The Unifying Theme of the JMJ: the Sacraments. In the Pastoral Letter of 1996 L'Eglise dans la societé actuelle, the French Bishops affirmed that laicitée et le pluralisme mark their society; they also dwelt at length on their impact on French Catholics: «It is a fact that young people in particular have the unpleasant sensation of being marginalized when they say they have been baptized or confirmed». The French ecclesial hierarchy is committed to finding the Catholic identity of its young people.

Consequently it is appropriate to stress the great importance given to the Sacraments of Initiation during the celebrations at Longchamp. The organizers were aware of the catechetical impact of these ceremonies on the Saturday and Sunday national television audience; much time was devoted to ensuring that television was used in the best possible way. Figures confirm that the pastoral objective was reached. Particular importance was also given to the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Both on the 1993 World Youth Day (WYD) in Denver and during the JMJ there were many young people who sought this Sacrament. In Paris I heard confessions on two occasions: one of these confessions lasted five hours. A large number of confessors were always available in the Churches, squares and parks.

2) The Importance of Catechesis. Bishops, priests and young catechists gave absolute priority to the need for in-depth catechesis before the pilgrimage. This catechesis was to include lessons on the "pilgrimage" tradition, biographical studies of the saints whose memory was to be commemorated and their intercession beseeched; lectio divina on the theme: «Where are you staying? Come and see»; a historical overview of France and Paris; the intersection between art and faith.

All the manifestations were animated by banners, songs and dances and each of them was prepared carefully and tastefully. The coordination between liturgical themes and catechists necessitated cooperation and communication between the staff of the Archbishop's residence in Paris, the episcopal Conference, the Supreme Pontiff's Office for liturgical celebrations and the Pontifical Council for the Laity.

3) Models of faith. The life and spirituality of St Theresa of Lisieux attracted many pilgrims. The applause that greeted her proclamation as Doctor of the Church emphasized the unanimous participation in the event. The relics of St Theresa are venerated in the Church of Notre-Dame des Victoires. Many pilgrims flocked there, gathering closely around the reliquary, they touched it and listened with devotion to Theresa's poems put to music.

The procession with the reliquary and the Crown of Thorns, which recalled the devotion of St Louis IX, was also an important moment in this day. The beatification of Frédéric Ozanam was followed with interest by the young people. His death, at a relatively young age, made it easier for them to identify with his holy life and his ministry.

4) The pilgrims' preliminary reception in the various dioceses. This innovation was a great success. It involved many French Catholics who otherwise would not have been able to participate, probably increasing the number of young people who took part in the JMJ.

5) Logistics. Paris introduced some useful innovations to its transport system. The young people seemed satisfied with the quality and distribution of food. The Paris metro facilitated the movement of hundreds of thousands of pilgrims. There did not seem to be any problem in this area. There was an abundant supply of water; an enormous number of bottles of water was distributed gratis by volunteers during the public manifestations in Champ-de-Mars and at the Longchamp Race Course. Also in this case a detailed emergency plan was prepared.

6) Jubilee implications. In Tertio Millennio Adveniente the Holy Father wrote: «the aim (of the actual celebration of the Jubilee) will be to give glory to the Trinity, from whom everything in the world and in history comes and to whom everything returns... Christ is the only way to the Father»(TMA 55).

The JMJ surely represent a contribution to the attainment of this objective. Those who will come to Rome for the Jubilee will come as pilgrims, not an easy identity for many. In the preparation for the WYD in Denver at first the youth group leaders did not want to accept the term "pilgrimage", which to North-Americans must have seemed foreign. Young people find words such as "tourist" or traveller more acceptable. But the word pilgrim smacks of the medieval to them!

The same point of view is probably shared by young people (and also by older people) from other nations or continents. This, too, is a sign of the ecclesial crisis which many are deeply aware of. Today the Church seems to be far from the ancient source of her living tradition: Christian culture. In its place the challenge of "secularism" (TMA 52) has created a great void in her.

The French Bishops described it as the emergence of individualism, the beginning of laicité and a generalized pluralism. The Second Vatican Council and the Pope have repeatedly stressed the real danger for the Church: the threat of being detached from the world, of losing contact with the world.

The Jubilee will be celebrated in the middle of this "crisis of civilization" (TMA 52). The Pope attributes this phenomenon, at least in part, to the sins of the children of the Church, who in the past "departed from the Spirit of Christ and his Gospel and... indulged in ways of thinking and acting which were truly forms of counter-witness and scandal" (33). He calls for a conversion of heart. And this requires the will to live the experience of transcendence, which consists of trials, total abandonment and the courage to face all the risks which this involves (TMA 37, 51 et passim). He speaks of the wonderful joy which can come from the Jubilee, «a joy based upon the forgiveness of sins, the joy of conversion. It therefore seems appropriate to emphasize once more the theme of the Synod of Bishop in 1983: penance and reconciliation» (32). The call to conversion permeates the whole of TMA, especially in nos. 32-36, 50. Sacramental confession in Rome will be an absolutely decisive event in bringing pilgrims to that level of humility that inevitably leads to the sense of being a pilgrim. It happened in Denver and in Paris. The sacrament of Reconciliation must be central in the Jubilee planning. Obviously the Pope's ecumenical outlook has this conversion at its centre. Christ «embraces within his redemptive power the whole past history of the human race, beginning with the first Adam»(TMA 56). Saint Theresa's example of faith was the corner-stone of the JMJ. In the year 2000 what will be the role of the saints to whom the four major patriarchal basilicas in Rome are dedicated? The Pope insists that «everything ought to focus on the primary objective of the Jubilee: the strengthening of faith and of the witness of Christians» (TMA 42).

We profess that the incarnate Son of God is the concrete analogy of the faith, man's archetypal relation to God. His experience of God the Father is one with the Father's vision. Our Blessed Mother, St Paul and St John the Evangelist are imitators of Christ. The sphere of their biblical experience of God participates by analogy in the archetypal nature of Christ, true God and true man. Their experience of faith has rightly been defined as archetypal for others. So what catechetical and kerygmatic role will the traditional stages of the pilgrimage - the Basilicas dedicated to them - have for the pilgrims who will come to Rome in the year 2000? Apart from the sacred places in the Middle East, Rome has no equal «O felix Roma, quae tantorum principum es purpurata pretioso sanguine, non laude tua, sed ipsorum meritis excellis omnem mundi pulchritudinem».

This passage from the poem by Helpidius would be very suited to becoming the hymn of the Roman pilgrimage. Peter's experience of God, together with that of Paul, John and the other apostles, is sui generis. Mary's experience of God as the Mother of Jesus is entirely unique. The incarnation of the Word in Her womb pours out in the faith of a Virgin. But the discipleship of each is essentially «an imitation (of Christ) which indissolubly consists of faith in Him (and with Christ, in God) and in a total human vision of Christ (and in Christ, of the Father and the Holy Spirit)» (Von Balthasar).

The pilgrim of the year 2000 will have his experience of God in Rome. Each believer should be touched in a special way by our Blessed Mother, by Peter, Paul and John. Their common experience as eyewitnesses created a unique union between their faith in Christ and their vision of His incarnate person. Pilgrims will be called to share in that same truth by imitating their discipleship in again hearing the proclamation of the apostolic and ecclesial kerygma. This proclamation should be more evident in the Basilicas dedicated to the first disciples. Their testimony as eyewitnesses of Christ is an integral part of the objective evidence of revelation. Their historic and concrete witness likewise indicates the profoundly human nature of the faith today; that is to say, believing in Christ means "seeing him" through the eyes of faith, "hearing him", "touching him", "tasting him", in the Christian manner.

Thus the sacramental humility and sacred simplicity of the eyewitnesses will lead pilgrims to the centre of the figure of Revelation, Jesus Christ. The midnight Mass that will be said in St Peter's at Christmas 1999 will mark the beginning of Catholics' renewed ability to recognize that «in the wonder of the incarnation your eternal Word has brought to the eyes of faith a new and radiant vision of your glory. In him we see our God made visible and so are caught up in love of the God we cannot see» (Preface of Christmas).