Turkish bishops mark 2,000th anniversary year of St. Paul's birth

Published: 2008-01-10

WARSAW, Poland (CNS) -- Turkey's Catholic bishops marked the 2,000th anniversary year of the birth of St. Paul in the southern Turkish city of Tarsus and outlined preparations for the Pauline year. "This event is for all Christian communities, since Paul is a teacher for all the disciples of Christ. However, the anniversary is of particular importance for us living in Turkey -- the apostle of the gentiles is a son of this land, and it is here he exercised most of his ministry," said a letter from the bishops' conference, which includes bishops of Turkey's Armenian, Syrian, Chaldean and Latin-rite churches. "We are immersed in a Muslim world where faith in God is still very present, both in its traditional aspects and in the assertion of new Islamic religious organizations," said the letter, which was to be read in Catholic churches Jan. 25, the anniversary of St. Paul's conversion. Pope Benedict XVI convoked 2008-09 as a special Pauline year of events marking the anniversary of the saint's birth. The pope said the celebrations should have a special ecumenical character. Bishop Luigi Padovese, apostolic administrator of Anatolia, told Catholic News Service Jan. 9 that the anniversary would begin formally June 21-22 and include a Mass in Tarsus celebrated by Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.

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