It is the 28th in history and was proclaimed by John Paul II for the year 2000. The Apostolic Letter "Tertio Millenio Adveniente" was published on Nov 10th 1994. It fits into the preceeding Jubilees but with a special significance, being the beginning of a new millenium, a fullness of time and a closing of a millenium marked with sad and joyous events.

The preceeding 5 years are considered preparations for the great spiritual task:

4.1 The Immediate Preparations for the Jubilee: 1994-1996

The Jubilee of 2000 has to be prepared with great care so as to avoid it becoming a mere touristic or popular event. The preparations have to take into conscious consideration of the following:

4.1.1 Asking pardon for the great crimes committed in the millenium

The Church looks first within herself and then outside herself in the world, where great scandals were committed in the past 10 centuries.

The present millenium opened with the Great Schism with the Oriental Churches on 1054, of which faults may be imputed on both sister Churches led by reciprocal intolerance and ambition to dominate. The middle of the millenium saw the Protestant Schism: the Lutheran in 1530, the Anglicans in 1534, the Calvinists in 1541, all preceeding the Waldensian schism of 1215.

The millenium also saw the end of the Crusades which sought to recover the Land of Christ and his Tomb. It was often a cruel undertaking and ended disastrously from the religious, political and military point of view. There were 8 official Crusades which lasted almost 2 centuries: from 1095-1291. In the period of 1095-1114 the 1st Crusade was preached by Peter the Hermit and ended with the foundation of the latin kingdom of Jerusalem. From 1147 to 1149 the 2nd Crusade was carried on the preaching of St Bernard but was crushed by a great defeat and massacre below the walls of Damascus. The 3rd took place in 1189-1197 after the fall of Jerusalem into the hands of Saladin. It was led by Frederick Barbarossa, Philip the Fair king of France and Richard the Lion-Heart of England. It ended with a peace treaty with Saladin but which lasted only 3 years. The 4th was called by Innocent III and led by Baldwin of France from 1202-1204. It ended up conquering Constantinople instead. The 5th took place from 1217-1221 and was called by Innocent III again. It conquered Damietta where St Francis of Assisi also reached in order to negotiate with the Sultan. In 1228-1229 the 6th was proclaimed by Grergory IX and led by Frederic II of Swabia. He obtained a truce of 10 years for christian pilgrims. The 7th was conducted by Louis IX of France during the years 1248-1254, but he was captured by the muslims and had to be rescued. The 8th was in 1270 and was another attempt by Loius IX but he died from the plague in Tunisia before arriving in the Holyland. In 1291 the last christian stronghold in Palestine, St John of Acre collapsed and the era of the Crusades ended.

Another great blow was the Great Western Schism (1378-1417) which followed the Popes' transfer to Avignon which lasted almost 70 years (1309-1377). The return of Gregory XI to Rome, after intense persuation by St catherine of Siena, resulted in a separation of some faithful who followed an antipope elected in Avignon. From 137-1417 there were 7 antipopes. Contemporaneous with Gregory XII (1406-1415) were 3 antipopes: Benedict XIII, Alexander V and John XXIII. 2 other antipopes ruled contemporaneously with Martin V (1417-1431): Clement VIII and Benedict XIV.

The discovery of America in 1492 brought europeans out to conquer new lands but with devastating wars and the slaughter of indigenous peoples; all of which the Church was not loud enough in condemning. There was the trade of Africans to America as slave-workers in the huge plantations colonised without scruples.

There was also the creation of the tribunal of the roman Inquisition during the 2nd Lateran Council of 1139 in order to combat the heresies and religious anarchy in Europe. It was in 1184 that it actually took shape in Verona when Pope Lucius III and Frederick Barbarossa drew up the statutes. Often princes made use of it for political purpose and thus throwing a shadow of cruelty and arbitrary persecution onto it. It certainly expressed the religious intolerance typical of the Late Middle Ages and the rebirth of the Church from the dark ages. Some famous victims were St Jean d'Acre (+1431), Girolamo Savonarola (+1498) and Galileo Galilei (+1633). It was abolished after having been reorganised several times, by Pius X in 1908 and the influential inquisitors were transferred to the Congregation of the Holy Office (today called the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith) in order to protect the purity of the faith.

Besides these, the crimes against humanity which characterised our millenium and especially this century cannot be forgotten and which in part involved the responsibility of the Church. The two world wars (1914-1918; 1939-1945) come first to mind, costing millions of lives which were often innocent. In a particular way we recall the atomic bomb attack on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 with incalculable consequences for the people of these cities that were annihilated or with irrecoverable damage to health.

We remember also the events of the two great dictatorial regimes founded in Europe and which condemned millions of lives to oppression and extermination. There was the Communist regime (1917-1989) of Russia and Eastern Europe with its labour-camps and the cruel deaths it caused to millions of persons. Then there was Nazism founded in Germany with Hitler as its head (1933-1945). Well-known to all are the concentration camps where jews and non-jewish europeans died from hunger, cold and misery.

Even today we weigh negatively on the history of our millenium which is ending with the massacre of entire populations in Africa through war and fraticide. To this we add the problem of hunger and the unpayable public debts gripping entire populations in the world, while others carry their excess to waste and to plunder nature.

For these painful crimes and other scandals occurring in the Church and beyond, christians must ask forgiveness from God and from the world in the coming Jubilee with a true spirit of conversion (n.33).

4.1.2 Acknowledging God for the great favours received this millenium

The millenium that is ending is one which saw a rise in the great religious Orders and numerous congregations of active apostolate. These have brought to the Church a great spiritual renewal in the evangelical sense which needs to be recovered and deepened. New Orders born this millenium include: new branches of the Benedictines such as the Camaldolese founded by St Romuald (951-1027), the Carthusians by St Bruno (1030-1101), the Cistercians by St Bernard (1090-1153), and the mendicants such as Franciscans by St Francis of Assisi (1182-1226), Dominicans by St Dominic (1170-1221) and the Carmelites (1228).

During the Renaissance many religious congregations for evangelisation, education and charitable works were founded. The 16th century was the century of the separation of the protestant and anglican brethren from the Roman Church, but also a renewal in religious life within the Church. We recall the Theatines founded by St Gaetano Thiene (1524), the Barnabites by St Antonio Maria Zaccaria (1533), the Somaschi by St Jerome Emiliani (1540), the Ursulines by St Angela Merici in 1535, the Jesuits by St Ignatius of Loyola which was approved in 1540. There was also the separation of the 2 branches of the Franciscans into the Observants and the Conventuals; and later in 1528 Matteo da Bascio founded the 3rd branch of franciscans called the Capuchins. In the middle of the century, about 1540 the Congregation of the Hospitellers of St John of God was founded to care for the sick. And at the end of the century in 1591 St Camillus of Lellis founded his Congregation for the care of the poorest of the sick. The beginning of the 17th entury saw the foundation of the Congregation of the Sisters of Charity by St Vincent de Paul which engaged in the care for the abandoned sick.

For the education of the abandoned youths, St Philip Neri founded in Rome the Congregation of the Oratorians in 1560. In a similar vein, St Joseph Calasanz founded the Congregation of the Piarists in 1597 in order to diffuse education among the lower classes and illiterate. A few centuries later, the Salesians and their female counterparts were founded by St John Bosco for the education of the youth.

Among these initiatives was also that of the contemplative life, which was sparked by the reform of the Carmelite Order undertaken by St Teresa of Avila in 1562.

All in all this millenium saw the foundation of 492 male congregations and Orders with 144,770 members; 2973 female congregations with 865,902 members; 163 Secular Institutes of which 53 have pontifical recognition and 110 with diocesan, numbering 80,000 members. It was a great push towards contemplation, education, mission and relief. The Missions experienced a growth of many congregations aimed at evangelising the non-christian world. Members of Orders and missionary congregations evangelised the Americas from the moment of its discovery in the 15th century; Australia and the Pacific isles in the 18th and 19th centuries; Africa in the 19th century.

During this millenium, 13 Ecumenical Councils were called in the West, following the schism of the oriental Church. From the 9th Council which was the Lateran Council of 1123 to the 21st which was the 2nd Vatican Council of 1962-65, all contributed in diverse measure to the reform of the Church.

For all these, the Church intends to thank God with a great prayer of praise and acknowledgement during this Holy Year of the Millenium (n.32).

4.1.3 The Great Prayer for Unity of the Christian Churches

If the present millenium was one of division,the new millenium ought to be one of reconciliation and re-unification among the various christian denominations through commitment and prayers by all. The prayer for the unity of christians began with Christ (Jn 17) and continues to be more insistent today. One may not single out and impute any specific blame for this division exclusively on one or other denomination. The blame lies on both conflicting parties. The division among the believers of the one same Christ is today the scandal of the ecclesial world. Today the question of unity is crucial and begs the intervention of the Holy Spirit who alone can restore true unity. Many institutions were created to work towards this end, such as "The Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity", "The World Council of Churches" with its headquarters in Geneva, national and diocesan committees.

4.1.4 Evangelisation in the Modern World

The Jubilee Year of the end of the millenium obliges the Church to undertake with new enthusiasm the evangelisation of the modern world. It is a paramount duty which weights on bishops, priests, religious and laity alike. In our de-christianised western world it is necessary to fight against religious indifference which makes humanity live as if God does not exists. It is worse than theoretical atheism which at least poses the problem of God even if only to reject it. The widespread lost of faith brought with it a lost of fundamental moral values such as the respect for life in its every stage, the sense of honesty, of moral responsibility in the private life, in public affairs and administration, in solidarity with the poor, with emigrants seeking work, with impoverished countries in debt. Often this is due to the bad example of christians. It requires us to seriously reverse the course of events.

Among christians it is necessary to recover the reception of 2nd Vatican Council which is under threat of being forgotten. This involves the reading and making the most of the Word of God, the continuing renewal of the liturgy, the sense of belonging to the Church, the role of the laity, the evaluation and exercise of ecclesial ministry, an open and respectful dialogue with modern culture and the world.

It is also necessary to recover a missionary thrust towards distant lands, continuing the evagelisation initiated by the last millenium. If the Church is not missionary, it ceases to be Church. Jesus had commissioned that the Good News be brought to the ends of the world (Mt 28:10-20; Mk 18:15-20).

4.1.5 A New Spring for Christian Life

The aim of the Jubilee is pre-eminently spiritual and seeks the renewal of christian life. It is not interested in the economic, touristic or political aspects as certain newspapers have insinuated. Crowds will come to Rome from among the poor and simple folk with the sole religious aim of receiving the Jubilee indulgence, thrusting forward a great desire for spiritual renewal that is being reborn in the hearts of the christian masses. The means of this renewal are: a long period of preparation: informative and spiritually well-organised, spreaded into the 3 years preceeding the Jubilee (1997-1999).

The 1st Year (1997): a reflection on the person of Jesus Christ because the Jubilee is a memorial of his birth, life, ministry, death and resurrection. It is necessary to rediscover and re-listen to the Saviour Jesus Christ through re-evangelisation, making more profound the mystery of the Incarnation, re-reading the Gospels, re-discovering Baptism, to take up again catechism. It is necessary to reawaken a healthy devotion to Mary who gave us Jesus.

The 2nd Year (1998): it is dedicated to the Holy Spirit and its living presence in the Church. It is the Holy Spirit that enabled the mystery of the Incarnation of the Son of God, and we receive the Spirit in Confirmation like a guest in our souls. It is the Spirit that operates in the Church, distributing charisms and ministries. The Spirit guides evangelisation just as it did immediately on the 1st Pentecost day; it enables the Church and each believer to journey in hope towards the Kingdom of God; it helps discover the positive signs of the times in history which arise from its activity such as progress in science and technology; a more active awareness of ecology; of solidarity; the promotion of the laity in the Church; the desire for unity among christians, dialogue with all religions to discover a point of convergence.

The 3rd Year (1999): attention falls on the Father who is in heaven. Knowledge of the Father is indispensible for the faith. From the Father we have life, creation and history. We come from his project of salvific love. The Jubilee reminds us that we are journeying towards the house of the Father (the Pilgrimage) hence we have to feel the urgency of conversion which itself is life's journey. We must learn to rediscover the sacrament of Penance for personal purification. The Jubilee is a hymn of praise (to jubilate) to him from whom all good things come. We should all take advantage of this occassion and rediscover what true prayer is. God is love and this begs for a rediscovery of the 1st christian commandment. From this springs the preferential option of the Church for the poor manifested with sincere works of charity and solidarity. God the Father is the origin of the family hence we are bound to promote and defend the rights of the family which today is in crisis. The God that we believe in is the God of the great religions thus the setting of the Jubilee is one of promoting a respectful dialogue with the other religions.

The Pope has announced that the Jubilee will be celebrated simultaneously in Rome, in the Holyland and in a special way Jerusalem the place od the Redemption, in local churches throughout the world so as to enable everyone to draw from the great treasury of graces which the Church disposes. Special attention should be paid to the sick, the aged, the cloistered monks and nuns, the prisoners.

In Rome, the International Eucharistic Congress will simultaneously take place and a meeting of all the christian confessions will attempt to relaunch the unity of the Church of Christ and to obtain from God the grace of reunification.