ROME (Zenit): Next year’s jubilee for the 2000th anniversary of St Paul’s birth will offer pilgrims the opportunity to gain a plenary indulgence.
Co-ordinator of the Pauline Year Fr Oliviero Plichon, who works in close collaboration with archpriest of the Basilica of St Paul’s Outside the Walls Cardinal Andrea Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo, said this when speaking with ZENIT about the events planned for next year’s jubilee.
“We don’t know exactly which year St Paul was born,” Fr Plichon said, “but the experts say that they date is between AD 5 and 10.”
Fr Plichon said that when Cardinal Lanza di Montezemolo presented the idea to the Pope’s secretary of state at the time Cardinal Angelo Sodano, and then to Pope Benedict XVI, the Holy Father welcomed the idea with interest and gave permission for the dates of the Pauline Year to be set.
The Pauline Year, beginning on June 28, 2008, and ending on June 29, 2009, will include a myriad of events in areas of ecumenism, liturgy, prayer, art, history, archaeology, pastoral initiatives and pilgrimages.
The Basilica of St Paul’s Outside the Walls, which welcomes between 2500 and 4000 pilgrims a day, will open its jubilee door and will host a special liturgy each Tuesday and Thursday afternoon.
Pilgrims will be able to pass through the Pauline Door, pray at St Paul’s tomb and at the chains of St Paul, go to confession, participate in Mass and vespers in order to receive a plenary indulgence.
