Some 500 Bible scholars from all over the world will gather at Ljubljana from 12 to 20 July for the 19th Congress of the International Organization for the Study of the Old Testament (IOSOT). The congress forms part of the programme of events accompanying Bible Year, currently underway in Slovenia. The country is the first of the former Communist bloc countries to host such an event and the choice of the venue also assumes a value for Slovenia’s entry into the EU. “Slovenia – said Joze Krasovec, director of the congress – is a country that forms a bridge between East and West. In this way the exegetical traditions of the Orthodox Churches and of the Churches of the developing countries will also assume a new value. The Congress in Ljubljana will be an appeal for the solidarity of the West with the East and with the whole world”. The Congress, which officially opens on 15 July, includes various plenary sessions with reports, seminars, Bible-study groups, and also concerts of music and singing. The opening ceremony will include speeches by the highest authorities of the State and of the Slovene Church. IOSOT is an international interconfessional organization. The last international congress was held in 2004, at Leiden in Holland, where IOSOT was founded in 1950. (Info: www.iosot2007.si)
