Angelus Greeting, 29 June 2008

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

This year the feast of the holy Apostles Peter and Paul occurs on a Sunday, thus, the whole Church, and not only the Church of Rome, celebrates it in a solemn way.

This coincidence is also propitious insofar as it further highlights an extraordinary event: the Pauline Year, which I officially opened last night at the tomb of the Apostle of the Gentiles, and which will last until 29 June 2009.

Historians in fact situate the birth of Saul — who later became Paul — about 7 to 10 years after Christ’s. Thus, after the passage of about 2,000 years, I wanted to call this special jubilee, which will naturally have Rome as its center, especially the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls and the place of martyrdom at Tre Fontane.

But it will involve the whole Church, beginning with Tarsus, Paul’s city of birth, and the other Pauline places in present day Turkey and the Holy Land, which are pilgrimage destinations, as well as the island of Malta, where the apostle came after a shipwreck and sowed the fruitful seed of the Gospel.

In reality, the horizon of the Pauline Year cannot but be universal because Saint Paul was, par excellence, the apostle of those who, in regard to the Jews, were “distant,” and who, “thanks to the blood of Christ,” were drawn “near” (Ephesians 2:13). For this reason, today too, in a world that has become “small,” but where many have not yet met the Lord Jesus, the jubilee of Saint Paul invites all Christians to be missionaries of the Gospel.

This missionary dimension must always be accompanied by that of unity, represented by Saint Peter, the “rock” on which Jesus Christ built his Church. As is underscored by the liturgy, the charisms of the two great apostles are complementary in building up the one people of God and Christians cannot offer a valid witness to Christ if they are not united.

The theme of unity is highlighted today by the traditional rite of the pallium, which I bestowed upon the metropolitan archbishops who were named this past year. There are 40, and two others will receive the pallium in their Sees. Again I greet them too.

Today’s solemnity is further a special cause of joy for the Bishop of Rome inasmuch as he welcomes the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople in the dear person of His Holiness Bartholomew I, to whom I renew my fraternal greeting, extending it to the entire delegation of the Orthodox Church that he leads.

The Pauline Year, evangelization, communion in the Church and full unity among Christians: Let us now pray for these great intentions, entrusting them to the celestial intercession of Mary Most Holy, Mother of the Church and Queen of the Apostles.