![[home]](/comm/images/usccb_logo.gif){kind=logo}
WASHINGTON (June 3, 1998) -- Catholics from national, diocesan and parish groups coast to coast will meet in Los Angeles in 1999 for the National Catholic Celebration of Jubilee Justice.
The unprecedented gathering will take place at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), July 15-18, 1999.
More than 30 national offices and organizations are developing the four-day event to highlight the role of justice in celebrating the start of the Third Millennium and Jubilee Year 2000. The justice thrust responds to the challenge of Pope John Paul II that men and women everywhere recognize that "a commitment to justice and peace...(is) a necessary condition for the preparation and celebration of the Jubilee."
Program organizers anticipate that parishes and dioceses will send representative ministry teams, including those who work in liturgy, education, youth, pro-life, refugee resettlement, direct service, social action and other groups, to Los Angeles. Efforts are being made to keep this event affordable so families may attend.
Planners outline three goals:
- Broadening, deepening and strengthening the Catholic Community's commitment to pursue a more just society and more peaceful world.
- Anchoring the Church's social mission more deeply in the life of families, parishes, schools, dioceses and Catholic organizations and institutions.
- Bringing together leaders for prayer and worship, inspiration and information, skills and strategies around our common challenge of putting justice at the center of Jubilee.
Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles, Honorary Chairman of the event, predicted a celebration that will emphasize what must be the heart of Millennium celebrations for Christians.
"We stand at a great moment of the history of the world," Cardinal Mahony said. "We want to move forward with plans for a better and more just society."
"Through technological advances, we have become a global community in which people from all around the world can communicate with one another in mere seconds. Our relationships as brothers and sisters become more obvious daily," Cardinal Mahony added. "We need to look at what this means for the Christian community. The people of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles are delighted to welcome Catholics from all around the nation to examine what these relations mean in the light of justice."
Father Robert Vitillo, Executive Director of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, and Co-Chair of the Jubilee Justice Celebration Steering Committee, said the program being developed will be inspirational, instructional and exciting.
"We want this celebration to mirror the Church and include people of all races, young and old, clergy, religious and lay, and suburban, urban and rural," Father Vitillo said. "We need to mobilize all parts of the Church community to work for justice as we start the Third Millennium."
Annette Kane, Executive Director of the National Council of Catholic Women and Co-Chair of the Jubilee Justice Celebration Steering Committee, underscored the breadth of the event.
"This meeting will convene people at every level of Church involvement," she said. "The Church of the 21st Century will call for a greater commitment than ever from lay men and women of every age. The Third Millennium offers the possibility of a new frontier for justice. All Catholics must be ready for it."
Sponsoring and participating organizations include the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities; Catholic Campaign for Human Development; Catholic Campus Ministry Association; Catholic Charities USA; Catholic Daughters of the Americas; Catholic Health Association; Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc.; Catholic Relief Services; Conference of Major Superiors of Men's Institutes; Leadership Conference of Women Religious; United States Catholic Conference (USCC) Department for Social Development and World Peace; USCC Department of Education; Federation of Diocesan Liturgical Commissions; Ladies of Charity USA; USCC Migration and Refugee Services; National Association for Lay Ministry; National Association of Pastoral Musicians; National Catholic Conference for Interracial Justice; National Catholic Education Association; National Catholic Office for Persons with Disabilities; National Catholic Rural Life Conference; National Catholic Young Adult Ministry Association; National Conference of Catechetical Leadership; National Council of Catholic Women; National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry; National Federation of Priest Councils; North American Forum on the Catecumenate; ROUNDTABLE Association of Diocesan Social Action Directors; National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) Secretariat for African American Catholics; NCCB Secretariat for Family, Laity, Women and Youth; NCCB Secretariat for Hispanic Affairs; NCCB Secretariat for Priestly Life and Ministry; NCCB Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities; NCCB Secretariat for the Liturgy; NCCB Secretariat for the Permanent Diaconate; NCCB Secretariat for the Third Millennium & the Jubilee Year 2000; NCCB Secretariat for Vocations and Priestly Formation; and the Society of St. Vincent DePaul.