JERUSALEM: 1st June 2005 -- Today, 1st June, history was
inevitably made as the Salesian Theological Institute, Ratisbonne,
offered its first batch of Bachelors their degree in a ceremony which
also began the process of farewelling key members of the staff. A
dozen Salesian students and two non-Salesian but Religious priestly
candidates received their baccalaureato
in the simple ceremony. At least half of the group was made up of
students from the East Asia-Oceania region.
Salesian Theological Institute Ratisbonne commenced
operations in September of 2004 after the transfer of personnel and
equipment from Cremisan, outside of Jerusalem near Bethlehem. The
latter location had been beset, over
recent years, by difficulties connected with the so-called intifada. Now, in Jerusalem itself and
given a general truce in hostilities affecting the city, academic life
has been enhanced by the closeness to central sites, including other
Catholic and Christian study centres.
With the close of the academic year in Jerusalem,
Ratisbonne sees a major change of administration and, to some extent,
culture, with the introduction of English as the language of the
community and of instruction, and, in line with this, several change of
staff including the Rector and the Dean - the latter will most likely
be known officially, however, as the Principal since STI Ratisbonne is
affiliated with the Salesian Pontifical University (UPS) in Rome where
the title 'dean' is reserved to the head of faculty.
The current community and academic leadership of
Ratisbonne is deserving of the highest praise in its management of the epochal changes that have been and will be part
of the Institution's long history. Today, at the graduation
ceremony, the students recognised this leadership, especially that of
Fr. Francesco Mosetto, the current Principal. In due course the
community will similarly farewell and thank Fr Giuseppe Giorgis, the
Rector.
Students and most staff tomorrow depart for a
long-delayed 'study' trip to Jordan. It would have been
clearly a study trip had it eventuated when planned, but difficulties
associated with political issues between neighbouring countries delayed
the visa process. At this stage it is a well-deserved celebration.
VOCABULARY
baccalaureato: the official title of the
degree conferred by the UPS. Its English equivalent is bachelor
degree, though baccalureate is also accepted internationally.
beset: usually has the meaning of being
surrounded or closed in - very appropriate for a setting cut off by a
wall!
intifada: more generally in Arabic it
means an uprising but has become specific to a Palestinian resistance
movement in the so-called occupied territories of Israel.
epochal: an epoch is the beginning of a
distinct period in any aspect of history. STI's situation is
therefore epochal.
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