XXVI Pauline Colloquium at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls

The work of the XXVI Pauline Ecumenical Colloquium began on Tuesday, 12 September, at the Abbey of St. Paul Outside the Walls. Since 1968, every two years the Abbey has become a place where scholars from different Christian traditions gather for a week of in-depth study and conversation to discuss the writings of the Apostle Paul. The Abbey, with its monastic community, has always worked for ecumenism and Pope Benedict XVI has officially requested this service from the Benedictines of St. Paul since the beginning of his pontificate. The Colloquium was dedicated to the study of chapters 9-11 of the Letter to the Romans, highlighting its crossroads and challenges. Among the speakers were biblical scholars of diverse origins: from the French Michel Quesnel to the German Gerd Hafner, from the Flemish Benoit Standaert to the Italian Stefano Romanello, from the English Christopher Tuckett to the Spanish Pereira Delgado…. Men and women brought together by a common passion for the Apostle of the Gentiles. Pope Francis, receiving them in audience, exhorted them with these words: “It is beautiful that you continue in academic, biblical, spiritual and fraternal dialogue, and that you put into circulation the original richness of which each one of you is the bearer. I ask you to pursue your biblical research with rigor and competence, but also and above all to let yourselves be amazed by the countless spiritual resources contained in the Pauline Letters, so as to offer Christian communities ‘new words’ capable of communicating the merciful goodness of the Father, the actuality of the salvation of Christ, the renewing hope of the Spirit”. To learn more visit here.