A special jubilee year dedicated to St. Paul, with numerous special liturgies and events in Rome, will run from June 28, 2008, to June 29, 2009, to mark the approximately 2,000th anniversary of the saint's birth.

Pope Benedict XVI announced the Pauline year in June 2007, saying the church needs modern Christians who will imitate the apostle's missionary energy and spirit of sacrifice. The year, he said, should also be celebrated in local churches and in the sanctuaries, religious orders and other institutions that have a special link to St. Paul.

"Dear brothers and sisters, as in the (church's) beginning, today, too, Christ needs apostles ready to sacrifice themselves. He needs witnesses and martyrs like St. Paul," the pope said. In a special way, the Pauline year will be ecumenical, reflecting the saint's commitment to the unity and harmony among all Christians, he said.

Beneath the basilica's main altar, Vatican experts in recent years have unearthed what they say is evidence that a roughly cut marble sarcophagus was indeed the tomb of St. Paul, who was believed martyred nearby.

Pope Benedict said that during the Pauline year particular care should be taken to welcome Catholics from various countries who may want to make penitential pilgrimages to the saint's tomb.

St. Paul was born in Tarsus, in what is now Turkey, at the start of the Christian era, sometime between A.D. 7 and 10, according to church historians. After his conversion on the road to Damascus, he became one of the church's foremost evangelizers, first among Jews, then among Gentiles.

The pope said the commemorative year would include symposiums and special publications devoted to the writings of St. Paul. The saint's letters are a primary source of information about the life of the early church and have strongly influenced church thinking through the centuries.

St. Paul's success as an evangelizer was not credited to skills as a speaker or to a "refined strategy" of missionary argumentation, the pope said. Rather, his achievements had more to do with his extraordinary personal involvement in announcing the Gospel and his total dedication to Christ, despite problems and persecutions, he said.

St. Paul's life holds a lesson for modern Christians, the pope said. The action of the church is credible and effective only to the extent that Christians are willing to "pay personally for their faith in Christ, in every situation," he said. Where this commitment is lacking, the appeal of the Gospel will be weaker, he said.

The pope recalled that St. Paul was once a violent persecutor of Christians who experienced a lasting personal conversion. "He lived and worked for Christ; he suffered and died for him," he said. "How current is his example today."

The pope also noted that, according to a long-standing tradition, Sts. Peter and Paul met near the basilica before they were martyred, and they hugged and blessed each other.

They were very different figures, with different roles in the church, and there were sometimes tensions between them, the pope said, but together they helped build the church and showed the world a new way of being brothers.

New collection of 'Letters of St. Paul' published
To mark the special jubilee year dedicated to St. Paul, which Pope Benedict XVI formally opens June 28, Pauline Books & Media has published a new collection of the "Letters of St. Paul."

The pocket-size, 290-page book also includes prayers related to St. Paul's letters, a study guide and an index of topics discussed by the saint.

In a foreword, Pauline Father Jeffrey Mickler calls St. Paul "one of the most influential figures in human history" and said he has special messages for students, working men and women, sailors, athletes and communicators.

"Most of all, however, people striving to be great lovers of God and neighbor will find in these letters soul-shaping wisdom and practical ways of sharing the Gospel with the world," Father Mickler said. "Savoring these letters as a whole will embed them in our hearts and minds, expand our capacity to love, and deepen our faith."

"Letters of St. Paul" sells for $7.95 and can be ordered by calling (800) 876-4463 or online at www.pauline.org.

Nine pilgrimage sites in Rome readied for Pauline year
Nine Rome pilgrimage sites linked to the life of St. Paul are being readied for visitors during the jubilee year dedicated to the apostle.

Pope Benedict XVI plans to inaugurate the Pauline year June 28 at an evening prayer service in the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls. He will light a votive lamp that will burn continually during the jubilee, which ends June 29, 2009.

Vatican officials are hoping pilgrims and religious tourists will give special attention to St. Paul, and the nine sites being promoted all have connections to the saint's life in Rome.

In addition to the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, where St. Paul's tomb lies under the main altar, the sites include St. Peter's Basilica and the Basilica of St. John Lateran.

Another site is the Abbey of the Three Fountains, built on the spot where St. Paul was beheaded on the order of Roman Emperor Nero. According to legend, his severed head rebounded and struck the earth in three different places from which fountains sprang forth.

Two small churches are also featured on the pilgrim's route: San Paolo alla Regola (St. Paul's at Regola) and Santa Maria in Via Lata (Our Lady at Via Lata), traditionally considered the first and second houses where St. Paul lived and taught in Rome.

The church of Santa Prisca on the Aventine Hill is included. It was believed to be the residence of St. Prisca, a first-century martyr known by St. Paul.

Also on the route are the basilica and catacombs dedicated to St. Sebastian. The relics of St. Paul were thought to have been preserved in these catacombs before being moved to their permanent burial site.

A final stop is the Mamertine Prison near the Roman Forum, where St. Paul was believed to have been incarcerated.

Indulgences to be granted for Pauline year events
Catholics who participate in events connected with the 2008-2009 jubilee year of St. Paul can receive a special indulgence, the Vatican said.

Pope Benedict XVI authorized the granting of a plenary, or full, indulgence in order to highlight the Pauline year and open the way to the "interior purification" of the faithful during its celebration, a May 10 Vatican decree said.

The decree was signed by U.S. Cardinal J. Francis Stafford, head of the Vatican tribunal that deals with indulgences and with matters related to the sacrament of penance. An indulgence is a remission of the temporal punishment a person is due for sins that have been forgiven.

The plenary indulgence is being offered to pilgrims who come to Rome, to Catholics who participate in local events connected to the jubilee year, and to those who may be too ill or otherwise prevented from physical participation. It can be granted on behalf of the individual petitioner or on behalf of departed souls.

Cardinal Stafford said conditions for the special Pauline year indulgence include the normal requirements set by the church for all plenary indulgences: that the person goes to confession, receives the Eucharist and prays for the intentions of the pope.

The decree explained in detail some specific requirements for the plenary indulgence:

-- Those visiting the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome in the form of a pilgrimage must offer personal prayers before the Altar of the Most Blessed Sacrament; they must also recite the Our Father and the Creed in front of the Altar of the Confession, adding invocations to honor Mary and St. Paul.

-- The Catholic faithful in any local church can obtain the indulgence by participating with devotion in a liturgy or other public event dedicated to St. Paul -- in any sacred place on the opening and closing days of the jubilee year, and on other days in places designated by the local bishop.

-- Catholics impeded by sickness or other serious cause, as long as they have the intention of fulfilling the other conditions as soon as possible, can obtain a plenary indulgence by joining spiritually in a jubilee celebration in honor of St. Paul and offering their prayers and suffering for Christian unity.

The decree said individuals can obtain more than one plenary indulgence during the jubilee year, but not more than one per day.

---CNS