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Letter from Archbishop Collins
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June 2008

…he is an instrument whom I have chosen to bring my name before Gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel: I myself will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name. (Acts 9:15-16)

Our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVIth has invited the Universal Church to celebrate the bi-millenial anniversary of St. Paul's birth. On this festive occasion, let us unite as an Archdiocese to profit from this Holy Year.

St. Paul's love for Christ filled him with a desire to preach the Gospel. Through all his travels, his eventual bearing witness to Christ in Rome and subsequent martyrdom, St. Paul has earned well the title, “Apostle to the Gentile.” In this Archdiocese, blessed with Catholics from so many nations, I wish to encourage you to take advantage of the diverse spiritual, devotional, scriptural, intellectual and cultural opportunities that will be made available throughout this Pauline Year.

To help give focus to the Holy Year within the Archdiocese, an icon has been commissioned and blessed. It will be circulated among many of our parishes. A prayer book has also been composed to assist all of us to enter more deeply into the richness of St. Paul's spirituality. I invite you to visit and pray as the icon is in your parish or one near you.

Moreover, the Archdiocese is also blessed with the presence of our various Communities of Religious Men and Women as well as many Lay Associations. Many, such as the Daughters of St. Paul and the Paulist Fathers will be celebrating their Patron, St Paul.

Additionally, I invite you to join me every second Sunday evening of the month for Lectio Divina at St. Michael's Cathedral where we shall reflect prayerfully on St. Paul's Letters. In all opportunities offered in the Holy Year, I invite you to be aware, participate, and benefit from these diverse pastoral initiatives.

Lastly, that this may be a year of abundant grace, the granting of a plenary indulgence is also being made available as decreed by the Apostolic Penitentiary to parishes bearing the patronage of St. Paul. Accordingly then, I would like to recognize the historical parish of St. Paul's Minor Basilica as a particular place of prayer and pilgrimage. Similarly, our other Archdiocesan parishes of St. Paul in Alliston, St. Paul the Apostle, Toronto, and Sts. Peter and Paul, Mississauga will also be designated as sacred sites of devotion of which a plenary indulgence may be granted in the canonically prescribed manner.

Thomas C. Collins,
Archbishop of Toronto.