OPENING THE YEAR OF SAINT PAUL

On June 28 we entered the Year of St. Paul, “The Apostle of the Nations”, who was particularly committed to announcing the Good News to all peoples, and who was untiring in his pursuit of unity and concord among all Christians. We invite you to look up the site dedicated to this event.

Rome, Monday 24 June, 2008 (Zenit.org).  The ecumenical patriarch of
Constantinople, Bartholomew I, will attend the inauguration of the Pauline Jubilee Year and Mass celebrated by Benedict XVI the next day. According to reports Monday and today from the Office of Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff, Bartholomew I will participate in Saturday's celebration of vespers at the Basilica of St. Paul's Outside the Walls. With this event, Benedict XVI will officially inaugurate the Pauline year.  Representatives of other Christian communities are also scheduled to attend.     

The Pope mentioned this “great ecclesial initiative” during his Sunday Angelus, saying “May this great spiritual and pastoral event inspire within us renewed confidence in Jesus Christ, who calls us to announce and to bear  fearless witness to His Gospel. I therefore invite you, dear brothers and sisters, to prepare to celebrate with faith this year dedicated to
St. Paul.”

On Sunday, the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, Bartholomew I will participate in the Mass celebrated by the Pope in St. Peter's.
The patriarch and the Holy Father will pronounce the homily; together they will recite the profession of faith and impart the blessing.
The Pope will concelebrate Mass with the new metropolitan archbishops, upon whom he will bestow the pallium during the course of the ceremony.

The Pope announced the Pauline Year on 28 June 2007 in
St. Paul’s Basilica itself, saying in his homily:  This year must have an important "ecumenical dimension." "The Apostle of the Gentiles, who dedicated himself to the spreading of the good news to all peoples, spent himself for the unity and harmony of all Christians. May he guide us and protect us in this bimillenary celebration," he added, "helping us to advance in the humble and sincere search for the full unity of all the members of the mystical body of Christ."

A website in four languages gives a detailed programme of all the events and initiatives planned for this « Ecumenical, Jubilee » Year of St, Paul, marking the 2000th Anniversary of the birth of the Apostle of the Nations.