BENEDICT XVI PRESIDES AT REOPENING OF PAULINE CHAPEL

VATICAN CITY, 4 JUL 2009 (VIS) - This evening the Holy Father presided at Vespers in the Pauline Chapel of the Apostolic Place to mark its reopening following seven years of restoration work. The chapel is the work of the architect Antonio da Sangallo, while its frescoes depicting the conversion of St. Paul and the crucifixion of St. Peter are some of the last done by Michelangelo. With the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, the Pauline Chapel was restored to its function as a place of worship for the Pope and the Pontifical Family.

In his homily Benedict XVI explained how the faces of Paul and Peter play a central role in the chapel's iconography, noting that, although it is known that Paul was around thirty at the time of his conversion, Michelangelo depicts him as an old man. "The artist's decision takes us outside pure realism, it takes us beyond the mere narration of events and introduces us to a deeper level", he said. Thus Paul's face "reveals the maturity of a man illuminated from within by Christ the Lord. ... The grace and peace of God enveloped Saul, conquering him and transforming him from within".

Peter, who turns his head to contemplate the viewer, seems to express "the state of mind of a man facing death and evil; he looks lost ... as if he were searching for something or someone in this his last hour". The Apostles "are facing one another. ... It is as if Peter, at the moment of supreme trial, sought that light which gave the true faith to Paul. In this context the two images become two acts of the same drama, the drama of the Paschal Mystery: Cross and Resurrection, death and life, sin and grace".

"For those who come to pray in this chapel, and above all for the Pope, Peter and Paul become masters of the faith. By their witness they invite us to ... meditate in silence upon the mystery of the Cross which accompanies the Church until the end of time, and to welcome the light of the faith thanks to which the apostolic community can extend the missionary and evangelising activity entrusted to her by the Risen Christ to the confines of the earth.

"No solemn celebrations with the people are held here", the Pope added. "Here Peter's Successor and his collaborators meditate in silence and adore the living Christ, Who is especially present in the Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist. The Eucharist is the Sacrament in which all the work of Redemption is concentrated. In the Eucharistic Jesus we contemplate the transformation of death into life, of violence into love".

At the end of his homily, Benedict XVI expressed his thanks to everyone who had contributed to the restoration of the Pauline Chapel, from the Vatican Museums, to the Governorate of Vatican City State, to the Association of Patrons of the Arts in the Vatican Museums.

HML/PETER PAUL/PAULINE CHAPEL VIS 20090706 (500)