A year dedicated to St. Paul

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What special events has your parish scheduled?

The Cathedral will host several special events related to the jubilee year of St. Paul's birthday, declared by Pope Benedict.

The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis will offer several programs and events associated with the 2008-2009 Year of St. Paul.

Pope Benedict XVI established the Pauline year to run from June 28, 2008, to June 29, 2009, to mark the approximately 2,000th anniversary of the saint's birth.

Those who participate in events connected with the jubilee year can receive special indulgences if they ful­­fill certain requirements, according to the Vatican.

When the pope announced the jubilee year, he said it would be marked by special liturgies and events in Rome, but it should also be celebrated in local churches. He said that in a special way, the Pauline year will be ecumenical.

The Year of St. Paul carries a special significance for the archdiocese and the city that bear the saint's name, according to Father Joseph Johnson, rector of the Cathedral of St. Paul.

"If we remember our Minnesota history, this community was known as the settlement of Pig's Eye, and the first rector of the Cathedral, Father Lucien Galtier, rallied to change the name to St. Paul, and he succeeded," Father Johnson said. "In so doing, he really placed our community under the patronage of the great Apostle.

"This is very much a frontier, missionary outpost, and so the figure of St. Paul was a very compelling inspiration to that early Christian community [in Minnesota]," Father Johnson added. "I think in our own day and age the figure of St. Paul continues to be one that helps us to learn how to engage the cultures around us."

Father Johnson said he hopes the cathedral will serve as a "spiritual resource or an oasis" for people to reflect on our patron saint.

The events include:

• First Saturday mornings of reflection - 8 a.m. to noon the first Saturday of every month from October 2008 to June 2009, at the Cathedral of St. Paul. Gatherings will include Mass; eucharistic adoration; and talks by prominent speakers such as Catholic theologian Jeff Cavins; Peter Kreeft, a Catholic author and philosophy professor at Boston College and King's College in New York City; and Janet Smith, a professor of moral theology and the Father Michael J. McGivney chair of life issues at the Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit. An anonymous commenter reports that Mother Assumpta Long of the Dominicans of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, of Ann Arbor, one of the most vital of today's religious orders, will be another of the speakers.

• Interfaith discussion - May 2009, Cathedral of St. Paul. Date and time to be determined. Alan Segal, a religion and Jewish studies professor at Columbia University in New York, will speak about St. Paul from a Jewish perspective.

• Ecumenical dialogue - Cathedral of St. Paul. Date, time and speakers to be determined. Discussion will focus on the "Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification," a 1999 document drafted by representatives of the Catholic Church and the Lutheran World Federation.

• Faith and Reason series - October to December 2008, Cathedral of St. Paul. Dates and times to be determined. Speakers will include Father Robert Barron, author and professor of theology at the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary in Chicago; Pia de Solenni, commentator and author on issues relating to the new feminism, women's health, the pro-life stance on abortion and popular culture; and Colleen Carroll Campbell, author, a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center and former speechwriter to President George W. Bush.

• Pathways adult faith formation group - September 2008 to May 2009, Cathedral of St. Paul. Dates and times to be determined. Jeff Cavins will present on St. Paul and his writings.

• Lecture by Rwandan genocide survivor Immaculée Ilibagiza - 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 11, University of St. Thomas, St. Paul. Ilibagiza, author of the best-seller "Left to Tell," will speak about reconciliation.

• Reconciliation conference - 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 12, Guardian Angels Church, 8260 Fourth St. N, Oakdale. Ilibagiza and other speakers will explore the topic of reconciliation within families, faith communities and the world.

Catholic Spirit