| 1. I am very pleased
to be with you who are celebrating your Jubilee today. Thank you for the
enthusiasm with which you fill this square with festivity, and thank you
too for the message you have addressed to me. I greet you all with deep
affection. I greet Bishop Agostino Superbo, General Chaplain of Italian
Catholic Action, who has expressed your sentiments. I also greet
Cardinal Camillo Ruini, the Bishops and priests, as well as your parents
and teachers who have wished to be with you today. We are many. And from
here one cannot see how far you reach: probably as far as the Tiber.
Your presence is a reminder that the Jubilee is a time of joy. God is
a good Father, always ready to forgive and to offer his children
opportunities to start to live and hope once more. Once again he opens
his heart, so that each person, by repenting of his sins, committing
himself to good resolutions and making acts of faith and love, can
return to the path that leads to him. Dear children and young people!
You have come to Rome from Italy and other countries in the world to
form a friendship with Jesus, after the example of the young saints like
Pancras and Tarsicius, who gave their lives to stay faithful to Christ!
The effort and hardships that you had to face made you realize that
following the Gospel requires sacrifice but fills one with joy. Have a
good Jubilee!
2. Dear children, dear young people,
this morning many of you, with your parents and those escorting
you, have taken part in the Jubilee Mass in St Peter's Basilica. In
giving himself to you in the Eucharist, Jesus has shown you that life
acquires its full value when it becomes a gift for others. The witness
of the saints and martyrs who are venerated in the Eternal City have
made you understand that it is only with Christ that you can accomplish
great things and that it is only with him that you can be happy and make
others happy.
You want to shout out your joy to everyone for the gift the Father
gave us in sending his Son Jesus to become our brother. Witness to the
world that by receiving Jesus in our midst, it is possible to make
humanity one great family. Many among you speak French, probably
everyone speaks French without exception.
3. At the beginning of a new year,
dear children and young people, we cannot forget all those of
your own age who are suffering hunger or violence, and those who are
victims of hideous forms of exploitation. How could we forget the many
children who are denied even the right to be born?
 When people want to build a world ignoring God and his law, they are in
fact giving rise to a situation of more and more suffering and
injustice. With the Jubilee the Lord invites us to correct these wrongs
by cooperating in the great plan he has for every person and for the
whole human race. Jesus also needs you for this task. He is entrusting
his plans to you and he is asking you: Do you wish to be my friend? Do
you wish to help me to make the world more beautiful and welcoming? Do
you wish to be witnesses to my love in the Church and in the world?
Say "yes" to him with enthusiasm, and bear the joy of the Gospel into
the new millennium. We belong more to a new millennium, the third
millennium, than to the second.
4. Dear children, you surely
remember what happened when, during the pilgrimage to Jerusalem, the
12-year-old Jesus remained in the temple. Mary and Joseph found him
speaking to the teachers, who were amazed at his understanding and his
answers (cf. Lk 2: 47-48). You will also remember how he himself, being
a tireless preacher of God's love for men and women, suggested to his
disciples that they take children as a model of those who receive the
kingdom of God (cf. Mk 10: 14-15).
By starting the series of solemn Jubilee celebrations with you,
children and young people, the Church puts you at the center of the
attention of believers. Receive the gift of the Jubilee and go home
changed by the love of Jesus who has given you his friendship. Follow
him enthusiastically and help everyone draw near to him with total
trust. Jesus is the Holy Door that enables us to enter God's kingdom. We
see, we hear that Spanish people are present: we see that there are many
of them.
5. I greet the children who have
come from Poland for today's meeting on the occasion of the Great
Jubilee of the Year 2000. I am very pleased that you have come here to
St Peter's Square, because this way you bear witness to your love for
Jesus Christ and to your desire to walk with him in your life.
He loves you too and wants to help you. He understands your desires
and is awaiting your response.
Dear young people, you are humanity's hope; through you, may Christ's
love spread to your surroundings, to your families and to your whole
world. I entrust you to the protection of Our Lady. Take this greeting
to your peers, your parents, your brothers and sisters, and all children
in Poland.
6. A happy Jubilee to you all,
dear children and young people! I bless you affectionately together with
your families and teachers, and I pray that Jesus, your great and
faithful friend, will make you the hope and joy of the world! Happy New
Year!
Before leading the Angelus the Holy Father said:
Let us see if you can also speak Latin, or at least pray in it!
At the end of the meeting the Holy Father added:
Before leaving you, I would still like to thank the Lord for the good
weather. It is a little cold, but it is beautiful: we have sun and no
rain. Deo gratias! I wish you all the best today and a safe return home.
Happy New Year to everyone! Praised be Jesus Christ! |
Pope
John Paul II to the 
