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CONCLUSION
60. The Church is preparing for
the new millennium through a process of spiritual conversion that has its
central inspiration in the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000. This exceptional
ecclesial event should prompt all Christians to make a serious examination of
conscience on their witness in the present and also to a fuller awareness of
the sins of the past, "recalling those times in history when [Christians]
... indulged in ways of thinking and acting which were truly forms of
counter-witness and scandal."(53)
In treating the subject of an
equitable redistribution of land, central to the jubilee tradition in the
Bible, the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace wants to focus the
attention of all on one of the most squalid and painful spectacles — that of
the shared responsibility, including that of many Christians, for grave forms
of injustice and exclusion, and the acquiescence of too many of them in the
violation of fundamental human rights.(54)
61. In many contexts,
acquiescence in evil, which is a troubling sign of spiritual and moral
degeneration not for Christians alone, is producing a disturbing cultural and
political void which makes people incapable of change and renewal. While social
relations are not changing, and justice and solidarity remain absent and
invisible, the doors of the future are closing, and the destiny of many peoples
remain locked into an increasingly uncertain and precarious present.
The spirit of the Jubilee urges
us to cry "Enough!" to the many individual and collective sins that
bring about intolerable situations of dire poverty and injustice. By calling
attention to the special and essential significance of justice in the biblical
message — that of protection of the weak and of their right, as children of
God, to the wealth of creation — we strongly hope that, as in the biblical
experience, the jubilee year will help us today to restore social justice
through a distribution of land ownership carried out in a spirit of solidarity
in social relations.
62. The light of Christ — image
of the invisible God whose fatherly heart urges him to go in search of all
persons, his cherished possession — gives us strength and throws light on our
difficult path.(55)
A deeper understanding and
reasoned application of the guidelines of the Church will be of practical help
to all humanity in creating the conditions for rejoicing in the salvation to
which they are called by God's grace, and in addressing a great prayer of
thanksgiving and praise to God.
Let us invoke the intercession of
Mary, Mother of our Redeemer, and the Star who is a sure guide for the steps of
all Christians who abandon the erroneous paths of evil and obey the promptings
of the Spirit, who is leading them toward the Lord, so that they can share in
the intimate life of God and be able to call him "Abba! Father!"
(Gal 4:6).
Rome, 23rd November 1997
Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Universal King
Roger Card. Etchegaray
President Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace
Most Rev. François-Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan
Vice-President Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace
Diarmuid Martin
Secretary Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace
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