St Paul Letters

 Backgound to this series of Newsletters on St Paul’s Letters Apart from Jesus, St Paul is the most prominent personality in the New Testament. Thirteen of the twenty seven books of the New Testament bear his name. These letters were the first books of the New Testament to be written and offer a unique insight into the beginnings of the Church and how they understood the meaning of the life and death of Jesus in their own lives. Although we listen to fragments of these letters almost each time we gather for Sunday Mass often we know little about the context in which they were first composed and so can find them difficult to understand.

In the summer of 2007, Pope Benedict XVI announced that the Church would celebrate a special year in honour of St. Paul the Apostle, beginning with the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, June 28, 2008, marking the 2000th anniversary of his birth. The Pope encouraged local church communities and believers to use the year as an opportunity to learn about the life of Paul, to study his writings and thereby to allow our faith be revitalised in the light of his life and teachings.

To mark this special year Fr Sean O’Sulivan, on behalf of the Diocese of Cork & Ross, prepared a series of eight newsletters on the Letters of St Paul. These were made available to parishes throughout the Diocese as a study resource and to introduce parishioners to each of letters of the ‘apostle to the gentiles.’

About the Author:  Sean O Sullivan is a priest of the diocese of Cork and Ross who has worked in Ballincollig and Mahon parishes as well as serving on the diocesan mission to South America. He has a keen interest in the study of the sacred scriptures and undertook post graduate bible studies in Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, U.S.A. from 2004 to 2006. In recent years he has worked in the area of Adult Faith Development in the diocese. As of August 2010 Sean has taken up a role within the Diocesan Pastoral Development Office and continues to serve as Assistant Priest in Ovens and Kilmurry parishes. Sean’s contact details are: 021-7336053 / 087-2151894 Email sean.osullivan@corkandross.org

St Paul Newsletters 

Introductory Presentation with maps of St Paul missionary journeys

Introducing St Paul

Letters to Thessalonians

Letter to Galatians

Letters to Corinthians

Letters to Philippians and Philemon

Letter to Romans

Letters to Colossians & Ephesians

The Pastoral Letters