Vatican City, Jul 2, 2008 / 07:55 am
Last Sunday, the Solemnity of the Apostles Peter and Paul, marked the beginning of a year dedicated to the figure and teaching of the Apostle Paul. During today’s general audience in the Paul VI Audience Hall, Pope Benedict XVI began a new series of catecheses aimed at understanding more deeply the thought of Saint Paul and its continuing relevance.
The Holy Father said, "The apostle Paul … stands before us as an example of total dedication to the Lord and His Church, in addition to being an example of complete openness to humanity and culture.
In order "to understand what he has to say to we Christians of today, ... let us pause to consider the environment in which he lived and worked ... which in many ways ... is not so very different" from our own, said Benedict.
"The universal vision typical of the personality of Saint Paul, at least of the Christian Paul after the events on the way to Damascus, must certainly be founded on faith in Jesus Christ," Pope Benedict observed. "In fact, for the Apostle 'There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.'"