GMG2000 - Il Programma pastorale Presentazione

PRESENTAZIONE

Dear Friends,
All over the world, following the HoLy Father Pope John PauL II who in these twenty years of his pontificate has traced the path, with commitment and enthusiasm preparations are under way far the pilgrimage which will lead to the l5th World Youth Day, set at the heart of the Great Jìbilee of the Year 2000.
The Italin Cammittee, which with the Pontificat Council for the Laity is responsible for preparing the great event, has elaborated a "pastorat programme" which highlights the fundamental cantents of what we already consider a "time of grace" for young people.

S. Em.za Card. J. F. Stafford

It has been said that the theme chosen by the Holy Father for the Day is: "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us" (Jn 1,14>. In the light of these words a core idea was chosen around which to arrange the stages of the preparation and celebration of the "Youth Jubilee" with its many theological community, spirituaL and pastoral contents. This idea echoes one of the most important and expressive moments of the public profession of the faith: the consignment (traditio) and re-consignment (redditio) of the Creed, symbol of the faith. At the beginning of the third millennium, young people are called to recognize and live the faith as a gift and a response to God in Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh.
With this objective in mind, as we approach the Day, young people are invited to become aware of and recall the deposit of faith rooted in history, manifested by many witnesses of yesterday and today, lived in the local Churches and proclaimed, in wondrous unity, by the universal Church. This faith, which young people have "gratuitously" received, will once again be consigned to them, with solemn confirmation, by the Successor of Peter, the Pope, during the World Youth Day, in Rome, the city in which the holy Apostles, Saints Peter and Paul and the early Martyrs professed the faith to the shedding of their blood.
This traditio, calls for a liely and convinced redditio, an answer rich in enthusiasm and missionary courage. This is why at the close of the Day, the young peopte will be given the mandate to proclaim and bear witness to the Symbot of the faith among their peers, in the various environments of life, in the community and in society.
The Pontifical Council for the Laity endorses this pastoral programme and is happy to present it to those responsible for youth ministry in Episcopal Canferences, Movements, Assaciations and Cammìnities, as a useful and valid work tool. lt can serve as a point of reference for possible future guidelines, addressed either to animators or catechists or the young people themselves.
We entrust to the Mother of the Lord and to the Holy Apostles, Saints Peter and Paut the journey which will lead us and the young people of the world to the Holy Door.

James Francis Card. Stafford
President of the Pontifical Council for the Laity