Pauline Year opens on June 28

The Pauline Year, celebrating the 2,000th anniversary of St Paul's birth which historians put at between 7 AD and 10 AD, kicks off on June 28 with a diocesan celebration in the square of the Mdina Cathedral.

After Mass by Archbishop Paul Cremona at 8 p.m., a number of exhibitions and activities in the churches of Mdina and Rabat are being organised in what is being called a Pauline evening.

But that is just the start of a year-long programme of events, ending on June 29, 2009, which has been organised by a committee set up by the Maltese and Gozitan dioceses.

In fact, in Gozo, the opening of the year is being marked by the translation of the relics in the Nadur church.

Mgr Cremona, who yesterday launched the programme of events, together with Gozo Bishop Mario Grech, said the Pope would be sending an envoy for the conclusion of the Pauline Year.

Pope Benedict XVI has decided to send an envoy to every country that St Paul visited, Mgr Cremona said. In Malta, the envoy would be saying the closing Mass in front of St Publius Church in Floriana.

Among the events organised are pilgrimages to St Paul's Island, with the Archbishop and the Gozo Bishop, on August 20, as well as two pilgrimages to Turkey and one to Rome, led by either of them, or both.

Groups of tourists are already booking trips to Malta to be able to do the Pauline tour of the islands, and a religious tourism programme has been prepared for agencies and sent abroad.

From the media point of view, a film on the life of St Paul is being produced locally for distribution in local cinemas, as well as a documentary on the saint.

The plan is to also organise meditation sessions inspired by Pauline Art, while culturally, exhibitions of related art are being held in churches throughout the year, moving from one parish to the other.

Mgr Cremona said the aim of the Pauline Year was to rediscover the figure of the apostle and his letters, and recognise their spirituality, as well as deepen the understanding of his teachings and adopt it as a vision.

It was a chance to renew what happened 2,000 years ago, when St Paul was shipwrecked in Malta, Mgr Cremona said, adding that how significant the year would be depended on how much Christians opened up to find out who St Paul really was.

Mgr Grech said the event was universal, not local, and that St Paul's experiences were similar to today's and could still be identified with.

Both dioceses plan to issue a pastoral letter for the Pauline Year.