(June 27, 2009) Pope Benedict XVI will formally bring to a close the year-long celebration
of the Pauline Year with a special Vespers service Sunday evening in Rome’s Basilica
of St. Paul Outside the Walls, where the remains of the apostle, who was beheaded
in Rome, are believed to be buried. Pope Benedict has designated several cardinals
to other closing ceremonies of the Pauline Year scheduled for Sunday at various locations
around the Mediterranean linked with the life and journeys of St. Paul. The Pauline
Year, convoked by Pope Benedict XVI to commemorate the 2000th birth anniversary of
St. Paul the Apostle, was inaugurated by him on June 28, 2008, the eve of the feast
of St. Peter and Paul. A delegation of the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of
Constantinople, the spiritual leader of Orthodox Christians worldwide, will be present
at Sunday'’s Vespers. Every year an Orthodox delegation comes to Rome on the occasion
of the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, June 29. Delegation members will also be present
at the solemn Mass celebrated on Monday by Pope Benedict on the occasion of the feast
of Sts. Peter and Paul in St. Peter’s Basilica. At the Mass the Pope will bestow
the pallium on 34 new metropolitan archbishops from around the world.