On June 28 of this year, Pope Benedict XVI officially opened the year of St. Paul in commemoration of the 2,000th anniversary of the birth of the saint, the original Christian model of evangelization. Known as the “Apostle of the Gentiles,” St. Paul preached the Christian faith all across the Mediter-ranean, from Jerusalem to Rome, in four major missionary journeys throughout his adult life.
Two millennia later, the Catholic Church is still a missionary Church, and Catho-lics throughout Long Island continue to share in St. Paul’s legacy: some following in his footsteps by traveling to faraway lands to minister to God’s people in some of the most forsaken parts of the world; others by supporting Catholic missionaries with their dollars and prayers.
In recognition of the Pauline year, The Long Island Catholic will be sharing some of the stories of the men and women in our diocese whose sacrifice and service embody the same missionary and evangelizing spirit demonstrated by St. Paul so many years ago.
We begin today with TLIC reporter Mary Gorry’s over-view of some of the work being done by Catholic missionaries from Long Island, and some of the efforts undertaken in our schools and parishes, and our diocesan Propagation of the Faith and Mission office, to support that work.