The Centre of Oriental Studies & Research of the Syriac Patrimony (Lebanon) in cooperation with the Council of Churches in Aleppo, held the XIth Syriac Patrimony Conference in Aleppo, Syria, from May 11 to 14, 2006. The Conference theme was "St Ephrem the Syriac, a Poet of our Times² in remembrance of the 1700 year of the poet¹s birth (306 2006). It was organized within the celebrations of Aleppo as a Capital of Islamic Culture 2006.
The opening session on Thursday 11th May was marked by the presence of high level church and government officials, including H. E. the Syrian Minister of Culture, H. H. Patriarch Mar Ignatius Zakka I Iwas of the Syrian Orthodo x Universal Church, a representative of the Lebanese Minister of Culture, the Mayor of Aleppo, MECC General Secretary, the President of the Centre of Oriental Study & Research from Lebanon.
In his opening speech, H.H. Patriarch Zakka Iwas mentioned that: "St Ephrem the Syriac the Syrian is not confined to one country nor to one nation, neither to one confession of faith; rather he is confined to all humanity". In turn, the Syrian Minister of Culture underlined that "Aleppo today is a unique example of cultural diversity, interaction and dialogue between cultures and civilizations". The Islamic culture, he said, is not a religio n but rather a common awareness and adoption of all other cultures". An address sent by Lebanese President General Emile Lahoud, welcomed the idea of the conference stressing that "religions and cultures can interact and dialogue for the sake and happiness of humanity".
Throughout the two and half working days, several eminent scholars from Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, UK, Germany and Belgium contributed to panels. They spoke about St Ephrem's poetry and his impact on the spiritual life of the different churches as well as on cultures all over the world.
In the closing session, the Grand Mufti of Syria Sheikh Ahmad Hassoun praised the poetry of St Ephrem saying that, "after 1700 years, St Ephrem i s still alive among us in a land which is blessed by heaven", emphasizing the universal nature of his poetry that touches all peoples¹ God, and its spirituality which will last forever. He ended saying, "today is the incarnation of heaven on all of us".
The conference ended with follow up recommendations to be carried out by th e Centre of Oriental Study & Research of the Syriac Patrimony.
The MECC staff in Aleppo was asked to undertake the documentation and secretariat work of the conference, together with other members of the Aleppo Ecumenical Committee. For further information, kindly contact Mr. Razek Siriani at: rsiriani@scs-net.org or visit the CERO Website at: www.moncero.org <http://www.moncero.org/
Middle East Council of Churches Office of International Ecumenical Relations P.O. Box 5376, Beirut, Lebanon
Guirgis Ibrahim Saleh, General Secretary
mecc@cyberia.net.lb or guirgissaleh@cyberia.net.lb
+961-1-353-938 http://www.mec-churches.org/