The Pauline Year

Over time, the church has had Marian Years, Rosary Years, Eucharistic Years and Holy Years (both ordinary and extraordinary), but B16 is primed to take the custom to new depths to mark the 2,000th anniversary of the birth of the Apostle to the Gentiles:

The pope was scheduled to announce the commemorative year at a vespers service June 28 in the Basilica of St. Paul's Outside the Walls in Rome, on the eve of the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul.

The Pauline Year will run from June 29, 2008, to June 29, 2009, according to information published in a Vatican Radio calendar. No details were immediately available about possible events during the year.

St. Paul was born in Tarsus, in what is now Turkey, at the start of the Christian era, about 10 A.D., according to church historians. After his conversion on the road to Damascus, he became one of the church's foremost evangelizers, first among Jews, then among Gentiles.

Regrettably, the new McCartney album -- out tomorrow in the States -- is hitting the shelves a month too early to coincide with the observance....

Talk about your missed opportunities for synergy.

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