VATICAN CITY, JUNE 22, 2009 (Zenit.org).- When Benedict XVI closes the Pauline Jubilee Year this Sunday, seven of his representatives will also officially end the celebration at sites particularly linked to the Apostle of the Gentiles.
The Pope will close the jubilee at vespers on Sunday evening at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, before Monday’s feast of Sts. Peter and Paul. In the Holy Land, Malta, Cyprus, Turkey, Greece, Syria and Lebanon, his representatives will also bring the year to a close.
The representatives for the respective sites are the following cardinals:
Antonio María Rouco Varela, archbishop of Madrid: Syria
Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity: Holy Land
Ennio Antonelli, president of the Pontifical Council for the Family: Malta
Renato Martino, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace: Cyprus
Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue: Turkey
Jozef Tomko, retired prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples: Greece
André Vingt-Trois, archbishop of Paris: Lebanon
In a Latin-language letter, the Pope asked the seven cardinals to make a call to unity, inviting the faithful to «follow the will of God.»
He also recalled his pastoral visits to «Pauline sites,» Vatican Radio reported. Among them, he highlighted his trip to the Holy Land, noting that there, Paul and the apostles gathered together for the first council.
The Pontiff said that Paul’s letters have «clarified the doctrine of the Church throughout the centuries.» Today as well, he added, these letters are a «fount of Christian reflection.» The Pope called on «Christians of our time to experience a true conversion and to undertake a new spiritual path.»
