The Year of St Paul

". . . I am pleased to announce officially that we shall be dedicating a special Jubilee Year to the Apostle Paul from 28th June 2008 to 29th June 2009, on the occasion of the bi-millennium of his birth . . ."     Benedict XVI

". . . as in early times, today too Christ needs apostles ready to sacrifice themselves. He needs witnesses and martyrs like St Paul. Paul, a former violent persecutor of Christians, when he fell to the ground dazzled by the divine light on the road to Damascus, did not hesitate to change sides to the Crucified One and followed him without second thoughts. He lived and worked for Christ, for him he suffered and died. How timely his example is today!

And for this very reason I am pleased to announce officially that we shall be dedicating a special Jubilee Year to the Apostle Paul from 28 June 2008 to 29 June 2009, on the occasion of the bimillennium of his birth, which historians have placed between the years 7 and 10 A.D.

It will be possible to celebrate this "Pauline Year" in a privileged way in Rome where the sarcophagus which, by the unanimous opinion of experts and an undisputed tradition, preserves the remains of the Apostle Paul, has been preserved beneath the Papal Altar of this Basilica for 20 centuries . . . "

Second Vespers in St Paul's Outside-the-Walls

on the Feast of the Conversion of St Paul

(Click for Link)