Ecumenical Lecture

The 2009 Lourdes College Ecumenical Lecture
Christ the First Fruits: St. Paul's Ecumenical Vision
Sunday, February 22
Offered in Cooperation with Toledo Area Ministries and the Diocesan Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs Commission
3 p.m.
Franciscan Center Conference Rooms A & B
Lourdes College

The Pauline Year

Pope Benedict declared June 2008 - 2009 the year of St. Paul in order to commemorate the second millennium of the birth of the Apostle of the Gentiles. The Pope has highlighted the ecumenical dimension of the event because St. Paul “was particularly committed to bringing the Good News to all people, and made prodigious efforts for the unity and harmony of all Christians.” Ecumenism being an important aspect of the Pauline Year, Pope Benedict announced that the chapel currently used as the baptistery, located between the basilica and the cloister of St. Paul’s Outside-the-Walls, will become the Ecumenical Chapel. The chapel will maintain its characteristic baptismal font but is 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 Rev. Julian V. Hills, Th.D.

Associate Professor of Theology, Marquette University The 2009 Lourdes College Ecumenical Lecture Christ the First Fruits: St. Paul’s Ecumenical Vision In his lecture, Christ the First Fruits: St. Paul’s Ecumenical Vision, Julian V. Hills, Th.D. will address the year of St. Paul and Ecumenism.

What would Paul have to say or perhaps write in a letter about today’s denominational diversity and western tolerance of religious pluralism? Would he recognize the Church (or the many “churches”) as the successors of the Christian communities he founded? What advice might he offer, as we venture further into the new millennium?

In this “Year of St. Paul” (June 2008-June 2009), commemorating the 2000th anniversary of the saint’s birth, countless students, scholars, and ordinary believers are returning to the earliest New Testament writings — the letters of Paul — for insight, example and encouragement. From the seven undisputed letters, the lecture attempts to sketch a picture of the Apostle’s ecumenical vision under three headings: (1) Christian belief and missionary strategy; (2) Jesus Christ in a multicultural world, and (3) the final plan of God for the salvation of humankind.