Dioceses Preparing for the Pauline Year

The Holy Father invites us to strengthen our love for the word of God as a way to honor the Apostle to the Gentiles

NEW YORK (Zenit.org) - Maybe nothing can separate us from the love of God, but as the Year of St. Paul gets under way, many dioceses are taking advantage of an opportunity to draw people closer to it.

Benedict XVI will open the jubilee year marking the 2,000th anniversary of Paul's birth this Saturday in a ceremony at St. Paul Outside the Walls. The official end of the Pauline Year will be one year from Sunday.

In May, the Vatican announced that those who participate in Pauline events could obtain a plenary indulgence, the remission of all temporal punishment due for sins that have been forgiven.

For those in Rome, the Pope designated the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls as the place to obtain the indulgence, under the customary conditions.

The Pope added, however, that for those not in Rome, the indulgence can be obtained by participating in a "religious function or in a pious exercise held publicly in honor of the Apostle of the Gentiles."

Phoenix

Many bishops, such as Bishop Thomas Olmsted of Phoenix, have actively promoted participation in the jubilee year.

"We celebrate the Year of St. Paul to deepen our conviction about truths of faith like this that are recorded by this great Apostle to the Gentiles and that undergird our hope," the bishop wrote in a letter on the Year of St. Paul, released last week.

"During this year, our Holy Father invites us to strengthen our love for the word of God as a way to honor the Apostle who was unsurpassed in zeal for proclaiming the Gospel.

"He also invites us to pray and work for unity among all the baptized, recalling how St. Paul constantly pleaded for reconciliation among the early converts to the Christian faith."

Bishop Olmstead designated three Churches as places of pilgrimage in the diocese: St. Paul's Parish in Phoenix, Sts. Simon and Jude Cathedral and Sacred Heart Parish in Prescott.

He also established eight days when a Plenary Indulgence may be obtained by making a pilgrimage: vigil and solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul (June 28-29), Conversion of St. Paul (Jan. 25), Shipwreck of St. Paul (Feb. 10), Divine Mercy Sunday (April 19), solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (June 19), and vigil and solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul (June 28-29, 2009).

"In the Year of St. Paul," urged Bishop Olmsted, "let us gladly join with our Holy Father and with fellow Christians around the world in seeking deeper conversion and holiness of life, in imitating the evangelizing zeal of St. Paul, and in loving Christ with an undivided heart."

Denver

Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver is also promoting participation in the Pauline Year. He will preside over a Mass on Sunday evening at the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception to open the year in his diocese.

During the Mass he will bless an icon image of St. Paul, which depicts a statue of the saint located at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome. The image will be displayed for veneration throughout the Pauline Year.

Archbishop Chaput declared three pilgrimage sites to obtain the plenary indulgence: the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, St. Paul in Idaho Springs and Sts. Peter and Paul in Wheat Ridge.

A Pauline-year liturgy will also be held at the cathedral on Jan. 25, 2009, the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, celebrated by Bishop Conley, and on June 29, 2009, the solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul.

The archdiocese is also planning a series of three public lectures on St. Paul. The lectures will focus on St. Paul's conversion to Christianity, his understanding of Christ and on Paul as a man of prayer and mission.

London

Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, the archbishop of Westminster, will preside at a Mass in Westminster Cathedral on Saturday afternoon to launch the Pauline Year in the London diocese.

During the liturgy he will bless an icon of St. Paul that will travel throughout the diocese during the jubilee year, which the faithful can follow on line.

Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor has also been actively promoting the Pauline Year in the elementary and secondary schools. In a pair of videos, available on the same Web site as the journey of the icon, the cardinal explains the Year of St. Paul to the young people of his diocese.

In preparation for the year, Monsignor Keith Barltrop, director of the Catholic Agency to Support Evangelization, has prepared an extensive list of resources on the agency's Web site.

"The Year of St. Paul provides a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the part that he played in the mission of the early Church," the monsignor said in a press release. "Imprisoned, shipwrecked, persecuted and often a controversial figure, he has inspired generations of Christians to share the Gospel message wherever the Lord calls them. There is so much that we can learn from his life and work."

Additionally, the Liturgy Office of the bishops' conference has produced a series of leaflets which offer a brief introduction to the letters of St. Paul as heard at Sunday Mass.

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Toronto

Archbishop Thomas Collins of Toronto will open the Year of St. Paul on Friday evening at St. Paul's Basilica.

In a letter issued for the jubilee year, the archbishop encouraged all "to take advantage of the diverse spiritual, devotional, scriptural, intellectual and cultural opportunities that will be made available throughout this Pauline Year."

The archdiocese commissioned an icon to Benedictine Sister Marie-Paul, which the bishop will bless Friday. The icon will be made available for veneration as it circulates among the parishes of the diocese.

The archdiocese also prepared a prayer book to "assist all of us to enter more deeply into the richness of St. Paul's spirituality."

Archbishop Collins invited his diocese to join him every second Sunday for lectio divina at St. Michael's Cathedral, where he will join them in reflecting on St. Paul's letters.

The archbishop designated four places of pilgrimage to obtain the plenary indulgence: St. Paul's Minor Basilica, St. Paul in Alliston, St. Paul the Apostle in Toronto, and Sts. Peter and Paul in Mississauga.

"In all opportunities offered in the Holy Year," added archbishop Collins, "I invite you to be aware, participate, and benefit from these diverse pastoral initiatives."