Pope John Paul has invited all Christians "to accompany me with their prayers" on his visit to the Holy Land later this month.
He "shall ask for forgiveness and reconciliation for the sons and daughters of the Church and for all humanity" while there, he said.
In his message for Lent 2000, which begins on Wednesday, he said "new forms of slavery and more tragic forms of poverty afflict vast numbers of people, especially in the so-called Third World countries".
It was "a cry of suffering and despair which must be heard and responded to by all those walking the path of the Jubilee", he said.
How could people request the grace of the Jubilee "if we are insensitive to the needs of the poor, if we do not work to ensure that all have what is necessary to lead a decent life?", he asked.
It was his hope that Christians "at every level will become promoters of practical initiatives to ensure an equitable distribution of resources and the promotion of the complete human development of every individual".
He prayed that the millennium would "be a time when, finally, the cry of countless men and women - our brothers and sisters who do not have even the minimum necessary to live - is heard and finds a benevolent response".
During this Jubilee Year, he said, "our charity is called on in a particular way to manifest Christ's love to our brothers and sisters who lack the necessities of life, who suffer hunger, violence and injustice".
