Pope says St. Paul represents sublime figure for today's Christians

Published: 2008-07-02

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- To learn about Christ and how to live the right way, today's Christians should look to St. Paul, Pope Benedict XVI said at his last weekly general audience before his summer break. St. Paul the Apostle represents a "sublime and almost inimitable figure" who serves as an example because of his "total dedication to the Lord and his church, as well as his great openness to humanity and its cultures," the pope said July 2. In his first audience after the June 28 opening of the Pauline year, the pope said the catechesis would be the first of a series dedicated to learning more about this "stimulating figure." The jubilee year will run until June 29, 2009, in commemoration of the 2,000th anniversary of the apostle's birth. Pope Benedict told the 8,000 pilgrims in the Paul VI hall that it was necessary to learn more about the cultural and historical context in which St. Paul lived in order to understand better his life and work.

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