18. The theme assigned to the Special Assembly — "The Church in Africa and her evangelizing mission towards the Year 2000. ?You shall be my witnesses' (Acts 1:8)" — expresses my desire that this Church should live the time leading up to the Great Jubilee as "a new Advent", a time of expectation and preparation. In fact I consider preparations for the Year 2000 as one of the keys for interpreting my Pontificate.20

The series of Synodal Assemblies which have taken place in the course of nearly thirty years — General Assemblies and Special Assemblies on a continental, regional or national level — are all part of preparing for the Great Jubilee. The fact that evangelization is the theme of all these Synodal Assemblies is meant to indicate how alive today is the Church's awareness of the salvific mission which she has received from Christ. This awareness is especially evident in the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortations devoted to evangelization, catechesis, the family, reconciliation and penance in the life of the Church and of all humanity, the vocation and mission of the lay faithful and the formation of priests.