Rome basilica establishes ecumenical chapel as prep for Pauline year

Published: 2007-12-19

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- In preparation for the 2008-09 celebration of a special Pauline year convoked by Pope Benedict XVI, Rome's Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls is establishing an ecumenical chapel. Cardinal Andrea Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo, archpriest of the basilica, told the Vatican newspaper that with the new chapel "we will give non-Catholic Christian communities the possibility to come to the basilica to pray, to celebrate the liturgy." The Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, published an interview with the cardinal Dec. 19, two days after the cardinal met with Pope Benedict to discuss plans for the Pauline year. When Pope Benedict announced in June the special year of events marking the 2,000th anniversary of St. Paul's birth, he said the celebrations should have a special ecumenical character. St. Paul, "who was particularly committed to bringing the good news to all peoples, did everything he could for unity and agreement among all Christians," the pope said.

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