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He greeted the delegation sent by the ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I, and said: "Our meetings, our reciprocal visits, the continuing dialogue are not ... merely simple gestures of courtesy or attempts to achieve compromise, but the sign of a shared will to do everything possible in order, as soon as possible, to achieve full communion. ... Part of this context is the 'Pauline Year' ... which will begin on 28 June 2008 and conclude on 29 June 2009, marking the 2000th anniversary of the birth" of St. Paul.