"The Papal Oriental Institute is an illustrious example of what Christian wisdom has to offer to those who wish to gain a more and more thorough knowledge of the Oriental Churches as well as a better understanding of that orientation in life according to the Spirit, which is a topic about which the Christian East rightly boasts an extremely rich tradition". It was said this morning by Benedict XVI, as he received the teachers, students, friends of the Papal Oriental Institute, on the occasion of the 90th anniversary of its foundation. "These added the Pope are precious treasures not just for scholars but also for all the members of the Church". Nowadays, commented the Holy Father, "because of the many available editions of the Oriental Fathers, these treasures are no longer ‘under lock and key’. Reading and construing them in an authoritative manner, developing dogmatic syntheses on the Trinitarian God, on Jesus Christ and on the Church, on the Grace and on the Sacraments, reflecting on the eternal life which we can already foretaste in the liturgical celebrations, all this is the task of those who study at the Papal Oriental Institute". Then, the Pontiff recalled that the Institute was founded by Benedict XV, of whom he is "particularly fond" and who lived at "times of war, while he did so much for peace". (continued)
