Just as the road to Damascus was instrumental in the life of St. Paul, so the city of Damascus will be instrumental in the Pauline jubilee year declared by Benedict XVI.Patriarch Gregorios III Laham of Antioch of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church -- with the help of the Franciscan custodians of the Holy Land, and in some cases, civil leaders -- is overseeing the activities focused on St. Paul.
The jubilee year marking the 2,000th anniversary of Paul's birth is from June 28, 2008, to June 29, 2009.
The official Web site for the festivities is now in English, though the Pauline Year bulletins have not all been translated. It was in the most recent edition of the bulletin that Patriarch Gregorios III explained the preparations under way in Damascus, which is the seat of the Melkite Greek Church.
Meetings gathering groups of all types -- ranging from youth to religious -- will focus on a variety of themes in a Pauline light, for example: St. Paul and the themes of love, the family, the woman, youth, marriage, baptism, and the Holy Spirit; or St. Paul and the Eucharist, the faith, the priesthood, etc.
The annual priests' retreat in Damascus will have the Pauline phrase "my life is Christ" as its theme. There are also hopes to produce a movie; the screenplay was written by Majidah Zanbaqua and Samir Monaqqad, from Damascus.
"We have spoken about it with the president of the republic, Bashar al-Assad, and with the minister of information, Mohsen Bilal," Patriarch Gregorios III said. "Both are interested in the framework of the celebrations in Damascus, capital of Arab culture in 2008, and because the faith of St. Paul is also a cultural theme of this city.
"This wide-ranging program, to be carried out in cooperation with the Franciscan Friars Minor of the Custody of the Holy Land -- who are the caretakers of the Church of St. Ananias in Damascus -- has begun this year, so as to later continue, to enable us to discover our faith of today in the teaching of St. Paul."
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Disclaimer
No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to either myself or to the blogspot ‘Clerical Whispers’ for any or all of the articles placed here.
The placing of an article hereupon does not necessarily imply that I agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.
Sotto Voce