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Cardinal Arinze at St. John Cantius: ‘Celebrate Jubilee’ By Michael D. Wamble Despite delays from storm clouds in the East and President Clinton’s arrival at O’Hare Airport earlier in the day, the air remained a buzz outside St. John Cantius Parish waiting for the illustrious speaker. As small groups clustered at the front stairs, questions were wondered in plain talk and whispers. “What would he speak about?” “What new insights would he deliver to encourage the faithful?” And then there was the unspoken possibility, the taboo talk frowned upon officially by the Catholic Church but written about in publications from The Wall Street Journal to Crisis, a Catholic magazine, that the man they were waiting for—Cardinal Francis Arinze—might one day emerge as a successor of Peter. “I guess I am here partly due to curiosity to hear a man of his caliber and position in the [Catholic] Church,” said Terry Ahearn. “If he was willing to come to St. John Cantius, I sure am going to take the time to listen to his message.” On July 30, Cardinal Arinze, president of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue, took the time to address Catholics as part of the Near North Side parish’s ongoing Jubilee 2000 conferences, designed to edify parishioners on the meaning of this holy year. “The Great Jubilee 2000 is the celebration of the greatest event
that ever took place since God created man and woman. The incarnation
and the redemption are the center of human history,” Cardinal
Arinze told the 100-plus parishioners who waited more than two
hours to receive his message. The jubilee, the cardinal said, “is telling us that Jesus Christ is at the center of history, and so should be at the center of our lives.” In his description of jubilee as “a time of grace,” the cardinal continued that, “None of us can afford to be indifferent or ignorant of this major kairos. “ During a slightly abbreviated talk, the cardinal traced the roots of jubilees back to the Old Testament and the Law of Moses (with both sabbatical years and jubilee years), through the New Testament, past the Second Vatican Council, (which he said Pope John Paul II considers “the single most providential event …of our times in preparation for the new millennium”) and into 2000. “Since the jubilee year is ‘the year of the Lord’s special favor,’ the Church during that year of grace puts emphasis on the remission of sins and of the punishments due to them, reconciliation between disputing parties, penance both as sacrament and as the virtue of spiritual discipline, and the granting of indulgences,” said the cardinal. No worse after enduring five hours of airport delays, Cardinal Arinze managed to ad-lib humor and fire in his prepared speech. Totaling up the world’s Christian population, 18 percent Catholic and 15 percent followers of other Christian denominations, the cardinal called for Catholics to evangelize and, where necessary, re-evangelize. Said the cardinal, “We can not rest when two-thirds of the world doesn’t know Christ!” After the talk, Cardinal Arinze told The Catholic New World that he appreciated those able to stay until his arrival. “I am impressed that even though I was five hours late the people have waited. It is extraordinary. I wish I was able to stay here longer with them,” said the cardinal. Among those who stayed was Christina Goetz of St. John Cantius, who will be traveling with a group of 125 Catholics from Wyoming to join in the celebration of World Youth Day Aug. 15-20 in Rome, one of the events the cardinal spoke about as a highlight of the jubilee year. “I didn’t really know what he was going to speak about, so it was great to hear him speak about the jubilee year and the history of it. It is great preparation for the trip and something I can share with my friends on the flight over,” said Goetz. Prior to his final blessing and journey to personally greet each person in the pew, Cardinal Arinze left with words of advice to best celebrate the jubilee year. His suggestions to Catholics included:
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