The 8th Symposium of Antioch was held from 28 June to 1 July on the theme “Paul: apostle between Tarsus and Antioch Archaeology, History, Religion”, on the initiative of the Franciscan Institute of Spirituality Pontifical Antonianum University, with the contribution of the University of Antioch “Mustafa Kemal”. The participants included the Apostolic Nuncio in Turkey Msgr. Edmond Farhat, the president of the Episcopal Conference of Turkey, Msgr. Ruggero Franceschini, the Armenian Patriarch of Istanbul Mesrop II Mutafyan, the Maronite bishop of Aleppo (Syria) and a representative of the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Damascus Ignatius IV. “With this meeting, which fulfils an important role for the whole Turkish Church, declared the secretary of the Turkish episcopate, Father Davide Vezoli Antioch is continuing its role of pioneering the inculturation of the Christian message. Still today a significant ecumenical atmosphere can be breathed in the city, thanks to the co-presence of five patriarchates, three of them Catholic (Syrian, Maronite, Greek Melchite) and two non-Catholic (Greek Orthodox and Syro-Jacobite). The atmosphere of brotherhood that binds the different Christian communities together has for some years been further accentuated by the various religious and cultural initiatives on the occasion of the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul. And this symposium is an example of that”. The solemnity of the Apostles Peter and Paul was the occasion for the traditional visit paid to John Paul II by a delegation of the ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, led by Demetrios, Greek Orthodox archbishop of America. The visit will be repaid on 30 November, feast of St. Andrew apostle, by the visit of a Catholic delegation to Turkey.
