Pope John Paul II's plan for celebrating the Jubilee Year.

Since the publication o; the very first document of my Pontificate, I have spoken explicitly of the Great JubiIee suggesting that the time leading up to it be lived as "a new advent." . . . In fact, preparing for the Year 2000 has become as it were the hermeneutical key of my Pontificate. It is certainly not a matter of indulging in a new millenarianism, as occurred in some quarters at the end of the first millennium; rather, it is aimed at an increased sensitivity to all that the Spirit is saying to the Church and to the Churches, as well as to individuals through charisms meant to serve the whole community. (TMA #23)

... Only a few years now separate us from the Year 2000: it seemed fitting to divide this period into two phases, reserving the strictly preparatory phase for the last three years. (TMA #30)

... The first phase [1994-1996] will therefore be of an ante-preparatory character; it is meant to revive in the Christian people an awareness of the value and meaning of the Jubilee of the Year 2000 in human history. As a commemoration of the Birth of Christ, the Jubilee is deeply charged with Christological significance. (TMA #31)

... A Jubilee is always an occasion of special grace, "a day blessed by the Lord." As has already been noted, it is thus a time of joy. The Jubilee of the Year 2000 is meant to be a great prayer of praise and thanksgiving, especially for the gift of the Incarnation of the Son of God and of the Redemption which he accomplished. In the Jubilee Year Christians will stand with the renewed wonder of faith before the love of the Father, who gave his Son . . .

Nevertheless, the joy of every Jubilee is above all a joy based upon the forgiveness of sins, the joy of conversion. . . (TMA #32)

The Holy Door of the Jubilee of the Year 2000 should be symbolically wider than those of previous Jubilees, because humanity, upon reaching this goal, will leave behind not just a century but a millennium. It is fitting that the Church should make this passage with a clear awareness of what has happened to her during the last ten centuries. She cannot cross the threshold of the new millennium without encouraging her children to purify themselves, through repentance, of past errors and instances of infidelity, inconsistency, and slowness to act. Acknowledging the weaknesses of the past is an act of honesty and courage which helps us to strengthen our faith, ...