VATICAN CITY, FEB 20 (ZENIT).- The Jubilee of the Roman Curia is the next in a series of back-to-back Jubilees for special groups within the Church. The Jubilee of Permanent Deacons followed on the heels of the Jubilee of the Sick, and in the same Angelus message, the Holy Father Sunday closed that Jubilee and announced the Jubilee of his closest collaborators -- climaxing Tuesday.

    The Apostolic Constitution "Pastor Bonus," promulgated by John Paul II on June 28, 1988, explained that the Roman Curia is the ensemble of organizations that assist the Pontiff in the exercise of his pastoral work for the good of the universal Church and the local Churches. In addition to the Secretariat of State, which has particular characteristics in its assistance to the Bishop of Rome, the organizations of the Roman Curia are classified into Congregations, Tribunals, Pontifical Councils, Administrative Offices, the Pontifical Household, and the Office of Liturgical Celebrations.

    As the Holy Father pointed out today, the Jubilee of the Roman Curia was "preceded by meetings of reflection and prayer, through which those who make up the Curia have prepared themselves to live this moment of grace, which invites them to a conversion of heart, with special intensity."

    Those who give their services to the Holy See represent all states of life in the Church: "Cardinals, Archbishops, Bishops, priests, men and women religious and the laity. Together they will cross the Holy Door, which is a symbol of mercy and a call to the renewal of life," the Pope explained.

    The Roman Curia's Jubilee will begin this afternoon with a penitential service led by Capuchin Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa, preacher of the Papal Household preacher, and on Tuesday, in the Vatican Basilica, there will be a Jubilee Mass presided by John Paul II.

    "A very close tie links the family of the Curia to Peter's Successor, who makes use of its service in the exercise of the ministry entrusted to him by Christ for the benefit of the entire ecclesial community," John Paul II explained. "Therefore, in addition to the capacity and efficiency of his collaborators, it is important that he be able to count on their communion in a love so profound so as to make of the Curia, as Pope Paul VI often said, 'a permanent Cenacle,' totally consecrated to the good of the Church. The purification that the Jubilee experience looks to will not fail to make its positive contribution in this respect." ZE00022006