Catholic World News News Feature

St. Paul's faith based not on conversion of thought, but personal meeting with Christ, Pope says September 03, 2008

Pope Benedict XVI recounted the story of the conversion of St. Paul during his weekly public audience on September 3.

The Holy Father-- who traveled from his summer residence at Castel Gandolfo to the Vatican for the Wednesday audience in the Paul VI auditorium-- continued his series of talks on St. Paul with a discussion of "the decisive moment of Paul's life."

This pivotal event is described at length by St. Luke in the Acts of the Apostles, the Pope observed. But we also have the perspective of St. Paul himself, in his epistles.

St. Paul, the Pope continued, "never spoke of the particulars of the event, perhaps because he believed that everyone knew its essential details." But the Apostle makes it clear that this event was the foundation of his newfound faith.

Actually St. Paul does not regard the event as a conversion, Pope Benedict remarked. "And the reason is very clear: this transformation of his life was not the result of a psychological process, of an intellectual or moral evolution, but the fruit of his meeting with Christ Jesus."

That is the essence of Christian faith, the Pope said: a direct personal encounter with Jesus. Christianity, he said, is "not a new philosophy or a new form of morality." It is faith in the Person of Christ.