"PRAISEWORTHY ACTIVITY" OF ORIENTAL INSTITUTES IN ROME

VATICAN CITY, MAY 12, 2003 (VIS) - This morning in the Clementine Hall, the Pope welcomed Cardinal Ignace Moussa I Daoud, prefect of the Congregation for Oriental Churches, and the superiors, teachers, students and staff of the Pontifical colleges and communities of students of the Oriental Catholic Churches in Rome.

"Turning to the many countries you come from," he began his talk, "I must strongly repeat the hope that peace will be ever more consolidated in that region; that fair and peaceful solutions will restore harmony and good living conditions to the populations so sorely tried by tensions and unjust oppression. May the Lord illuminate the leaders of nations so that they will courageously work, with respect for law, for the good of everyone and for the freedom of every religious community."

The Holy Father underscored the "praiseworthy activity" of the various pontifical institutions, which includes "Oriental studies, that of the liturgy proper to each ritual traditional, permanent formation at all levels, and a constant updating of pastoral experiences."

The Pope noted that the College of St. Ephraim was inserted into the congregation programs this past academic year and "offers priests of diverse rites but who speak the Arab language a place suited to prayer, ecclesiastical studies and a full apostolic activity."

"In 'Orientale Lumen," affirmed the Holy Father, "I noted that it is indispensable to promote reciprocal knowledge to help reciprocal understanding and unity to grow. ... I intended to remark in particular on the knowledge of the liturgy of the Oriental Churches and the spiritual traditions of the Fathers and Doctors of the Christian East.

"We must use as an example the Churches of the East in inculturating the Gospel message; to avoid tensions among Latins and Orientals and to stimulate the dialogue among Catholics and Orthodox. It would also be useful to form, in institutions specializing in the East, Christian theologians, liturgists, historians and canonists able to spread, in turn, knowledge about Oriental Churches."

AC;ORIENTAL CHURCHES;...;DAOUD;VIS;20030512;Word: 320;