Dialogues between the various churches at all levels are all making progress. Pope John Paul II's encyclical, Ut Unum Sint, encourages this movement and invited divided Christians to discuss the papacy, which is one of the more difficult barriers to full unity. Here in the United States, the Catholic Church has included a strong ecumenical component in planning events to mark the millennium, and this same trend is seen in other churches as well. On the international level, the Holy See and the World Council of Churches are working together on this question, and there are representatives from other churches involved in the work of the Vatican's Committee for the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000. Jubilee is an opportunity to examine our relationships with one another.
Many people are captive of old stereotypes and prejudices.
Slavery is no longer a problem in the Western world, but people are still enslaved in other parts of the globe. Restoring equality among the children of Israel is at the heart of jubilee, and yet seldom, if ever, has the disparity between rich and poor nations been wider. Arrangements to reduce or forgive foreign debt, enact fair trade policies, and for a more realistic foreign aid policy are areas for concerned Christians to act on behalf of the poor of the world. In the tradition of the jubilee, debt forgiveness was an act of justice intended to relieve the burdens of the weak and give them an opportunity for a fresh start. Pope John Paul II applies this tradition to modern times in Tertio Millennio Adveniente.