Rome, Jan. 21, 2008 (CWNews.com) - Ecumenical efforts will be a main focus of a special year dedicated to St. Paul, a Vatican cardinal has said.

Last June 28, Pope Benedict declared a year dedicated to St. Paul, beginning one year from that day and extending through June 29, 2009. The Holy Father said that the year, marking the 2000th anniversary of the saint's birth, should be used to heighten appreciation for the Apostle to the Gentiles and to his project of promoting the Christian faith and the unity of believers.

At a press briefing on January 21, Cardinal Andrea Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo outlined plans for the Pauline year. The Italian cardinal is the archpriest of the Roman basilica of St. Paul's Outside-the-Walls, which will be a focal point for many of the events associated with the observance.

Cardinal Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo announced that a chapel within the basilica of St. Paul's Outside-the-Walls, currently being used as a baptistery, will be converted into an ecumenical chapte, "designated as a place in which to offer our Christian brethren a special place for prayer, either within their own groups, ... or together with Catholics, without the celebration of the Sacraments." The archpriest of the basilica went on to say that he would ask Christian leaders of other denominations to join in the observances of the Pauline year. The Italian daily La Repubblica reported that the cardinal has issued an invitation to Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexei II to join in the opening ceremonies on June 28.

The program for the year will include cultural and pastoral initiatives, encouraging all Christians to re-read the letters of St. Paul and to pilgrimages to the tomb of the Apostle or the many sites associated with his missionary journeys.