St. Paul: A Man of Three Cultures

In today's General Audience, Pope Benedict began a new series of catechesis about the Apostle Paul.  This was the first Wednesday audience since the beginning of the Pauline Year, and the last before the summer break, as the Holy Father is moving to his summer residence Castel Gandolfo today and will depart next week on his journey to Australia for World Youth Day.

He mentioned that St. Paul was a Jew, when Jews made up only about 3% of ancient Rome, setting them apart from the rest of the population.  He was also immersed in Helenistic culture and influenced by the prevailing Stoic philosophy.  He was also a citizen of Rome as indicated by his Latin name.  While the “universalistic vision that was typical of the Christian Paul owes its basic impulse to Jesus”, he said, the values of humanity and wisdom seen in the Stoic philosopher Seneca were "naturally received in Christianity."

Asia News has an article.  Full translations are available at Zenit and Papa Ratzinger Forum. The Vatican Press Office provides original Italian text and short summaries in several languages, and Vatican Information Service has a press release with a longer summary.