At the Service of the Word for Arabic-speaking Christians

These past few days, the International Coordinator of the St Paul Biblical Center met with Msgr. Joseph Khawam, Titular Metropolitan of Apamea, Exarch Bishop for the faithful of the Melkite Greek-Catholic Church in Venezuela and Apostolic Administrator of the eparchy “Madonna del Paraiso” in Mexico. The meeting, planned for some time (and was postponed several times because of the pandemic) and the fraternal exchange touched, among other topics, on the service to the Word for Arab-speaking Christians. Mons. Khawam expressed deep satisfaction for the precious contribution of biblical formation that the confreres of Venezuela, thanks to the local Sobicain, have been providing for years and expressed their intention to continue their fruitful collaboration. There was also talk of a forthcoming edition of the Bible in Arabic, for which the Metropolitan expressed great interest and full willingness to participate in the initiative in the ways that will be jointly agreed. The meeting also provided an opportunity for an interesting and in-depth visit to the hidden corners of the Minor Basilica of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, in Rome, the institutional seat of the Diaconia of the Greek-Melkite Church and a living memory of the origins of the Christian liturgy.