On 26 November 2006 in the Paul VI Auditorium, the world premier screening of Nativity will be held: the film recounts with historical precision and passionate wonder the fact of the birth of Jesus. The film will be released in cinemas throughout the world the following 1 December.
On the occasion of the world premier, a collection will be held for the construction of a school in the village of Mughar in Galilee, close to the Lake of Tiberius, the home of 17,000 Druses, 5,000 Christians and 4,000 Muslims. The project is being promoted by the Greek-Melkite Archbishop of Akka. Nazareth also falls within his diocese: among his parishioners, one could, therefore, count Mary and Joseph.
A serious problem in the Holy Land is the lack of education: in the towns of Nazareth, Ibillin, Shefar-am and Jish, schools have been built where interaction between the various cultures begins at a very young age. In Mughar, the wish is to build an elementary and secondary school to educate together Muslims, Jews and Christians.
The Pontifical Council “Cor Unum” is part of this important initiative in order to bring the Pope’s charity to those places where God became flesh, generating the hope of life for all of humanity.
Vatican City, 17 November 2006
