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Cardinal
Daoud inaugurates
the
Pontifical College St. Ephrem in Rome
March
8, 2003
On
the afternoon of Saturday March 8, 2003 His Beatitude Cardinal Ignace Moussa I
Daoud, Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches, officially
inaugurated the Pontifical College of St. Ephrem. The College is designed to
provide lodgings for those priest students of the Arabic language from any of
the Oriental Catholic Churches, who do not have a college of their own in Rome
and who are taking specialized courses in any of the ecclesiastical sciences
at the Pontifical Roman Universities.
The
College is located in Via Boccea, in one of the wings of the building which
accommodates the Pontifical Institute of St. Mary of Comfort, which is the
community of students and priests from the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.
There was no better occasion for the dedication of the new College to St.
Ephrem than on the day of his liturgical commemoration, which according to the
Syro-Antiochean calendar falls on the first Saturday of Lent. The day is
observed with solemnity by the Syrian Church, which venerates this Saint as
one of the greatest witnesses of its theology and spirituality. But, indeed,
the whole Christian East celebrates this feast day. That is why it was a
particularly joyful occasion for the new house of formation, which is now
available for all Catholic Oriental communities.
On
hand to welcome the Cardinal Prefect was Father Jijhad Battah, who, in
addition to looking after the Seminary of the Syrian Catholic Patriarchate in
Charfe, Lebanon, was also entrusted by the Congregation with the
responsibility of being the Rector of the new College. Representing the
Secretariat of State at the ceremony was His Excellency the Apostolic Nuncio
Dominik Hrusovky, Titular Archbishop of Tubia. The Cardinal Prefect was
accompanied by His Excellency Antonio Maria Vegliņ, Secretary of the Oriental
Congregation, and Monsignor Cristoforo Nitkiewicz, Undersecretary of the same
Congregation, as well as other officials of the Dicastery. Also present were
Lebanon’s Ambassador to the Holy See, His Excellency Fouad Aoun, with the
First Secretary Henri Castoun; the Rector of the Pontifical Oriental Institute,
Rev. Father Hector Vall Vilardell S.J.; Rectors of other Oriental Colleges in
Rome associated with the Congregation for the Oriental Churches; a great many
men and women religious from Oriental Religious Orders and Congregations; and
students, friends and co-workers of the new College as well as the managers
and employees, who renovated the building to suit its present purpose.
After
the welcome address by the Rector the water was blessed in the Chapel of the
College according to the Syrian-Antichean Rite for the sprinkling of the
Chapel and the residence. The students accompanied the rite of blessing with
hymns sung in Aramaic and Arabic. Prior to the chant in honor of St. Ephrem,
His Beatitude Cardinal Daoud said the liturgical prayers in Arabic and then
addressed all present, in particular the students, expressing his satisfaction
that, after the Maronite College re-opened in 2001, he was able to welcome
another community of Oriental students: “Today we can, as it were, touch
with our own hands once again the continuous care with which the Universal
Church looks after the Oriental Catholic Churches. Most sincere thanks go to
the Holy Father who gives a human face to perfect Christian charity, the
fruits of which have also been bestowed upon you and to which you are called
to be outstanding witnesses through a generous and competent service to your
Churches of origin”.
Referring to the figure of St. Ephrem, the Cardinal
Prefect praised his intense love for divine wisdom, drawn like living water
from the Gospel of Christ, his extraordinary works in the field of biblical
studies, theology and poetry and, in addition, his administration of two
schools, one at Nisibi with the help of its bishop and the other at Edessa.
Then he added: “St. Ephrem has indeed been, as the Syriac meaning of his
name indicates, fruitful, that is a Christian who has borne most
abundant fruit. He has given the Church and the world an abundance of valuable
truth and remarkable knowledge, imbued with a sense of beauty and poetry and
inspired by Christian love, all of which became part of the history of the
great Fathers as the Church’s universal and lasting heritage”. He
concluded by proposing the great Saint as a special model not only for all the
Churches of the East, but also for the students in view of their formation:
“During your stay in Rome, while you experience a rewarding encounter with
Christian science and culture, you are being called by St. Ephrem to cultivate
holiness of life and fidelity to the Churches to which you belong. That is why
I invite you to create a priestly community which appreciates learning and is
not just dedicated to it out of a sense of duty, but also with a sense of joy
and passion, aware that being thus chosen is a privilege. A spirit of prayer,
punctuality, mutual respect, sincerity, a proper use of material things and
genuine concern for each other may bring about among you an authentic
atmosphere of fraternity, which will determine the style of St. Ephrem’s
College”.
The ceremony continued with a visit to various parts of the
College and with a video produced by the students of key moments of community
life. Having had a previous history (most importantly the years when Arabic
language students were accommodated at the Parish of St. Benedict outside of
Porta San Paolo), which was made possible through the continuous care of the
Congregation for the Oriental Churches, the new College accommodates alumni,
who belong to different rites and nationalities, in an atmosphere which is
completely in keeping with the needs of their formation. It is a promising
sign of hope and encouragement for the future of the Oriental Catholic
Churches, who are often called to exist in particularly difficult
circumstances. It is a testimony to the primary
attention, which the Congregation for the Oriental Churches has given
for years to the formation of candidates to the priesthood and to the
religious life and to their educators.
This concern was taken up repeatedly by
the last Plenary Assembly of this Dicastery and was most clearly reiterated by
the Holy Father at the audience on the occasion, where he said: “I have
noticed the priority your Congregation has been giving to the liturgical and
catechetical renewal as well as to the formation of the various sections of
the People of God beginning with the candidates for Holy Orders and for
the Consecrated Life. Such a priority of formation is inseparable from
the ongoing care for their respective educators”. Then the Holy Father
directly addressed the Superiors and students of the Colleges and Institutes,
which the Congregation supports in Rome, saying: “It is my hope that those,
who have the possibility of coming here, may be able to receive a complete
formation and may grow in an ever more ardent love for the Church, which is
one, holy, catholic and apostolic. The diversity of rites must not allow us to
forget that all Catholics are part of the one Church of Christ” (L’Osservatore
Romano, Friday Nov. 22, 2002, p. 5). This is the best wish, which can
accompany the first steps of the new College of St. Ephrem. Having finished
their studies here the alumni of the Pontifical Colleges will indeed go on to
their own seminaries and institutes of formation, to which they will be able
to contribute the wealth of their Roman experiences matured in the encounter
with the many different ritual, theological and cultural expressions of the
one Church.
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