VATICAN CITY, FEB 6 (ZENIT). - From February 10-13, thousands of pilgrims will witness to the fact that "suffering has a positive meaning," when they come to celebrate the Jubilee of the Sick and Health Care Workers. Yesterday, at the Holy See's press office, Archbishop Javier Lozano Barragan, president of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Assistance to Health Care Workers, presented the program and objective of this project. Also, Pope John Paul II showed his deep interest in this celebration today in his Angelus message, inviting all those suffering from illness to unite themselves to this Jubilee celebration.

    Some 20 thousand pilgrims are expected to participate in this celebration, 4,100 of them will be victims of various illnesses. The Holy See has seen to it that the participants of this event will find adequate lodging in hotels or private houses.

    The sick will be accompanied by those dedicated to their service: nurses, pharmacists, and, obviously, doctors. The most important events will be the opening Mass, which will be held Thursday at St. Paul Outside the Walls and the Jubilee Mass in St. Peter's Square, celebrated by the Holy Father. During this Mass the Holy Father will personally administer the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick to ten pilgrims stricken by illness. On Friday afternoon pilgrims will process with candles in hand down the Via della Conciliazione to St. Peters Square, where they will be treated to a festival of lights and sounds. The organizers have not revealed the details of this event in order to keep it a surprise.

    On Saturday, at the Colosseum, a Way of the Cross will be held. A few hours later the pilgrims will once again meet for a celebration in Paul IV Hall. For this Jubilee celebration, during the most important events, there will be a radio and television hook-up with some of the most important Marian Shrines like Czestochowa, Guadalupe, Lourdes, Yamossoukro (Ivory Coast), Sydney, and the U.S. National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.

    Archbishop Lozano says that the purpose of this Jubilee celebration is "to tell the whole world that suffering has a positive meaning, and more than this, that it can become a source of life for all of humanity when it is lived with Christ. Any sick person can offer his suffering to Christ in order to find meaning in it. In this way he unites his afflictions to the Redeemer's, transforming them into a wellspring of integral health, including physical." ZE00020607