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Casa Divin Maestro, Ariccia (Rome) 19-29 April 2009 © Society of Saint Paul - The General House, Rome 2009 www.paulus.net/sisp PRESENTATION From 19 to 29 April 2009 has taken place in the Casa Divin Maestro of Ariccia (Rome) the International Seminar on Saint Paul, participated in by 73 members of the Pauline Family from 26 na- tions (44 Paulines, 17 Daughters of Saint Paul, 5 Pious Disciples, 3 Pastorelle, 2 Apostoline, 1 Annunciationist, 1 Gabrielite). The theme of the VIII General Chapter of the Society of Saint Paul, To be Saint Paul living today, the content of its general ob- jective and the operative line regarding the programmatic theme indicated for an annual Letter of the Superior General emphasize the constant sensibility and renewed interest of the Paulines in re- gard to Saint Paul. Exactly because thought of beforehand, when Benedict XVI, on 28 June 2007, announces a Pauline Year from 28 June 2008 to 29 June 2009, as Paulines we have felt even more motivated and stimulated to organize this meeting also in the name of the entire Pauline Family. Through the celebration of the Seminar we have wanted to offer, in the last months of the Pauline Year, an additional occasion to deepen the specific vocation of the apostle Saint Paul in the evan- gelizing mission of the communities of the primitive Church and its function as model for the Paulines, called to be missionaries in communication of all times, according to the specific mission en- trusted to us by blessed James Alberione. Knowledge, meditation and assimilation of the “Gospel” of Paul and of his style of evangelization constitute the basis for strengthen- ing and reelaborating the identity of the Pauline charism in a context of society, culture, Church and communication that evolve rapidly. The main objective of the International Seminar on Saint Paul has wanted to put in hermeneutical relation the originality of the mission of Saint Paul among the gentiles in the preaching realized by the primitive Christian communities, with the mission of the Paulines sent to evangelize through communication today, whether through media, multimedia or internet. The argument has been developed in three successive stages: 1. From Sunday 19 to Friday 24 April 2009. The specificity of the faith experience and pastoral activity of Saint Paul in the commu- 4 INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR ON SAINT PAUL nities of the early Church, taking into account above all his evange- lization among the gentiles which motivated him to rethink the contents of the faith and the manner of proposing it. Exegetical, theological and pastoral aspect. 2. Friday 24 and Saturday 25 April 2009. The mediation of blessed James Alberione in assuming Saint Paul as model of the Pauline charism. Historical-charismatic aspect: blessed Alberione, inter- preter of Saint Paul. 3. From Sunday 26 to Wednesday 29 April 2009. Distinctiveness of the faith experience and pastoral activity of Paulines in today’s Church, taking into account their mission to evangelize through communication. Hermeneutical aspect: Paulines want to be Saint Paul living today. The Seminar, actually, will have to exercise influence on our spirituality, formation, apostolate and Pauline consecrated life so that these are lived better and proposed better to the youth of to- day. The continuous deepening of Saint Paul for a more complete understanding and an enthusiastic living of the Pauline charism for those who already belong to the Pauline Family, must also produce a vocation commitment to propose to young people the “fascina- tion” of our style of life, characterized by a busy contemplation of God in history, with a mission to make possible encounter with God even in every form of contemporary communication. For documentation regarding the International Seminar on Saint Paul, for the Dossier with articles which served as a prepara- tion for the Seminar and for other information, refer to the website www.paulus.net/sisp. There is also a PPT presentation entitled Paul, Pioneer in the Field of Evangelization, by Prof. Carlos Gil from the University of Deusto, Spain. The contents of his talk are not avail- able due to copyright restrictions. Sr. Cristina Cruciani, PPDM, made her own contribution to the Seminar with an audiovisual presentation: St. Paul interpreted in the art of the Pauline Temple in Alba. From spirituality in art to spirituality in the apostolate. This was offered only to the participants. FINAL MESSAGE Dearest Brothers and Sisters, During these past days we 73 brothers and sisters from the Pauline Family have gathered from five continents, in the house of the Divine Master at Ariccia to participate in the International Seminar on St. Paul organized by the Society of St. Paul. With the help of internationally known biblical scholars, we first of all nourished ourselves with an ample and articulate reflection on the life, spirituality, theology and mission of the apostle Paul. After that, guided by various sisters and brothers of the Pauline Family, we proceeded to reflect on the spirit of the Apostle through the lens of our father Alberione, in order to try and imagine a her- meneutic of our Founder that would update our charism and be the foundation of the everyday reality of the specific mission to which we have been called – a mission articulated in apostolate, spirituality, poverty and study. Lastly, we gathered in 9 groups according to language (3 Span- ish, 3 English and 3 Italian) and questioned ourselves in order to carry out a communitarian discernment to draw up guidelines for relaunching the Pauline charism in its triple perspective of apostolic content, the pastoral dimension and spirituality. Here in brief is the fruit of what we elaborated during the Semi- nar that we experienced together these days. The contents of Pauline witness 1. The primary content is Christ, communicated in the style of Saint Paul. At the same time, as the Apostle reminds the Philippians (cf. Phil 4:8), every area of human research, even what is not ex- plicitly Christian, is included in our apostolate as long as it re- sponds to the criteria of truth, nobility and justice. Every question that promotes the truth about human beings and their natural am- bient is by definition not foreign to us. 2. Our apostolate calls us to be prophetic and critically aware in all cultures regarding the great themes of the current times, above all in societies such as ours, characterized by the phenomenon of 6 INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR ON SAINT PAUL globalization, secularization and afflicted by the negative conse- quences of the structure of sin (poverty, exclusion, egoisms, indif- ference, etc.). 3. As Daughters and Sons of Paul at the service of the Church and the social contexts in which we are present, we feel the call to be interpreters of the “signs of the times,” with the necessary dis- cernment: a) promoting the role of women in the Church, in society and in the Pauline Family; b) supporting a greater responsibility of the laity in the Church; c) emphasizing the need for unity through a frank interreligious and ecumenical dialogue; d) relaunching the values of solidarity, communion and faith; e) defending the Christian meaning of the family, its importance and it value in society; f) denouncing the havoc wrought by people and nations against nature and natural beauty, without however giving in to a simplis- tic environmentalism. 4. We are concerned about the transmission of the faith to the new generations: for this reason we feel called to address them, forcing ourselves to use their own language and to promote the educational agencies that share our same vision of the human per- son. Pauline strategy and pastoral style 1. The pastoral service which has been entrusted to us is that of addressing a public that is always more heterogeneous in its con- crete context of life, culture and degree of adhesion to the Church and the Gospel; a public that communicates in an always more “interactive” way with the sources of the message and thus is al- ways less a passive receiver. 2. Among the privileged members of our audience, by the ex- plicit indication of Blessed James Alberione, we must address our works to the so-called opinion leaders, both lay and religious, and to those who work in social communications. FINAL MESSAGE 7 3. Our apostolate is called to be “a spearhead” and “a bridge,” that is, one that looks ahead without fear in regard to contents and means; and one that is capable of creating relationships and dia- logue not just between the church and the people of today, but also among these people themselves. 4. We feel the call to collaborate always more within the Pauline Family, promoting together our biblical and charismatic formation with the goal of increasing our sense of family and drawing up common projects also on the basis of already existing realities. 5. We are aware of the need to adopt a style of evangelization that is flexible, humble, communal, marked by gratuitousness and con- scious that it is precisely in personal and communitarian weakness that the strength of the apostle and the apostolate resides. 6. We want to commit ourselves to form and involve more deeply in our apostolate the Pauline Cooperators and the other consecrated lay men and women of the Pauline Family. Further- more, we consider it essential for our mission to bring about a greater involvement of prepared and motivated laity. 7. We consider it equally necessary to collaborate on the forma- tive, cultural and apostolic levels with other publishers, both relig- ious and lay. The spiritual motivation of our identity 1. Ours is an apostolic, Eucharistic and liturgical spirituality founded in Christ Way, Truth and Life, whose purpose is that we might be conformed to and live in Christ.

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