Testo originale del articolo in inglese qui
A few weeks ago, Omnes announced in its online edition the theme of the next Universal Church Jubilee to be celebrated in 2025, Pellegrini della Speranza. The information, little disclosed by the other media, emerged in a private meeting that Pope Francis held with the president of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization, Rino Fisichella.
In mid-February, the Pope himself announced it, communicating publicly for the first time some details and hopes for the imminent Holy Year, in a letter addressed to Pope Fisichella himself and made public by the Holy See Press Office.
In our anticipation we had said that, in addition to the theme and the logistical aspect of the preparation of an event that will bring together in Rome, the center of Christianity, millions of faithful from all over the world, it was necessary to reflect on the path of spiritual preparation that will accompany it.
The most immediate precedent, the Great Jubilee of the year 2000, had in fact been prepared by St. John Paul II six years earlier, in 1994, with the famous Apostolic Letter Tertio millennio adveniente.
The text recently published by Pope Francis goes precisely in the direction of safeguarding and enhancing the spiritual dimension of the Jubilee, an event that must be seen "as a special gift of grace, characterized by the forgiveness of sins and, in particular, by indulgence, a full expression of God's mercy", as it has always been since the first Holy Year of 1300 indicated by Pope Boniface VIII.
Faith, hope, and love
For this very reason, the Holy Father suggests that the Dicastery for Evangelization should find the most suitable ways and means to live this much awaited experience".with intense faith, lively hope and strong love".
The general motto will be, as anticipated also by everyone, Pellegrini of hope, and it will be the sign - writes the Pope in his letter to Fisichella - "of a new renewal that we all feel is urgently needed". Especially because we come from two years characterized by an epidemic that has also altered the spiritual well-being of people, bringing death, uncertainty, sophistication, loneliness and limitations of any kind. Francesco also cites as examples the churches that have been forced to close offices, schools, workplaces and recreational structures.
"We must maintain access to the faith of hope that has been given to us, and do everything possible so that each of us may regain the strength and certainty to face the future with an open mind, a trusting heart and a broad vision", is the prospect that the Holy Father proposes. A vision of openness and hope, in fact, that can only be achieved by rediscovering an effective universal fraternity, which is concretized above all in the reach of the poorest and most disadvantaged, who should be the privileged public of the Jubilee of 2025.
"These fundamental aspects of the social life" must therefore be combined with the spiritual dimension of the "pellegrinaggio", which must not transcend the beauty of creation and the care of the common home, through which - as many young people in many parts of the world have demonstrated - it is also possible to show the essence of "faith in God and obedience to his will".
The Four 'Costituzioni' of the Second Vatican Council
At this point, Pope Francis proposes to take the four 'Constitutions' of Vatican Council II as a model for the preparatory process, the Dei Verbum sulla rivelazione divina, la Lumen Gentium on the mission and formation of the Church and the People of God, the Sacrosanctum Concilium sulla liturgia e infine la Gaudium et spes on the progress of the Church in the contemporary world, enriched by all the magisterial contribution of the last decades with the successive pontificates, up to our days.
A great symphony of preghiera
In anticipation of the reading of the leaflet with the specific indications for the celebration of the Giubilee, which will be published later, the Pope suggests that the previous year's giubilee event be dedicated to "ad una grande 'sinfonia' di preghiera"because, before leaving for the holy place, we must "recover the desire to be in the presence of the Lord, to worship and adore Him.".
In short, the search must be the first step of the achievement of hope, through an intense year".in which our hearts can open up to receive the embrace of grace, making of the 'Our Father', the question that Jesus has taught us, the life program of each of his disciples.".
A bilateral cousin of the sinodale percorso
With regard to the universal commitment and involvement of the whole Church, the synodal process, which in this first year is involving the local Churches, proceeds with satisfaction. A recent note of the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops states that 98% of the Episcopal Conferences and of the Synods of the Oriental Churches around the world have nominated a person or a team dedicated to the synodal process.
According to the data collected in various online meetings with those responsible for the Synod, there is great enthusiasm also on the part of the laity and consecrated life. "It is not a case", reads the note, "that innumerable initiatives have been carried out to promote ecclesial consultation and discernment in different territories". Many of these testimonies are collected from time to time on the site www.synodresources.org.
A certain success has also been achieved by the multimedia initiative dedicated to the Synod prayer - www.prayforthesynod.va - which has been launched together with the World Network of the Pope's Prayer and the International Union of Superiors General, and which also uses an application called Click to PrayThe following are intentions written by monastic and contemplative communities, on which anyone can meditate.
Non mancano le sfide nel cammino sinodale, tra cui "the timoriness and constraints of some fedeli and clergy groups"e una certa sfiducia tra i laici".who doubt that they are aware of their contribution". To this must be added the persistent pandemic situation, which still does not favor meetings in person, which are undoubtedly much more fruitful for sharing and exchange. It is not a case, the Secretary of the Synod reaffirms, that the consultation of the People of God "...".cannot be reduced to a simple questionnaire, because the real challenge of synodality is mutual respect and communitarian discernment.".
This also requires four aspects not to be underestimated: a specific formation to the listening and understanding, which is not always the norm; the need to avoid self-referentiality in group meetings, valuing instead the experiences of each member; a greater involvement of the youth, as well as of those who live on the margins of the ecclesial realities; trying to overcome the disorientation expressed by part of the clergy.
In addition to the joy and dynamism that undoubtedly inspires the novelty of the synodal process, the whole process must be put into action with peace, so that each participant can truly reflect on himself as an essential member of the People of God.
