Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Antioch (Agenzia Fides) – A library specializing in Saint Paul, with a study center for experts, religious, laity, and all wishing to deepen in their knowledge of the Apostle of the Gentiles...this is what is being offered at the new “St. Paul Cultural Center,” an initiative launched in the city of Antioch by the local Catholic community. The project, organized by the Franciscan Capuchin Friars, has Italian roots, being sponsored by the Bishop of Padua, His Excellency Antonio Mattiazzo, and was funded by locals and contributions from St. Peter and St. Paul Catholic Church in the city of Antioch in the Oronte.
The library will hold books on the Apostle and on Roman and Byzantine Antioch, early Christianity and the Church, etc, and will include works on Christian-Islam relations, especially in Turkish lands. “A young Catholic student from the University of Antioch, baptized with the name of Paula, began selecting and organizing the books,” Capuchin missionary Fr. Domenico Bertogli, of the Church of Sts. Peter and Paul, told Agenzia Fides.
The project has arisen in the Year of St. Paul and will develop and be enriched over the years to come. The Center seeks to become a reference point for all pilgrims visiting Antioch, for religious and laity who wish to delve deeper into Pauline history and spirituality.
In this year dedicated to St. Paul, the Catholic Church in Turkey is seeing a noteworthy increase in the number of pilgrims, especially in the “Pauline sites” in Tarsus and Antioch (see Fides 6/10/2008). Antioch in the Oronte, one of the stops along Paul's travels, is where those who followed Christ were first called “Christians.” (PA) (Agenzia Fides 12/11/2008)
