Post-script to the Pauline Year
THE APOSTLE PAUL, by Benedict XVI
Arabic Edition
Oasis/Marcianum Press 2010
Preface to the Arabic Edition:
'The Apostle Paul' by Benedict XVI
by MONS. ANGELO SCOLA
Patriarch of Venice
Translated from
www.oasiscenter.eu./
Benedict XVI is a great theologian. And precisely because he is great, is he is able to present the truths of the faith - even the most arduous - with simplicity.
He takes the faithful by the hand and makes them lift their eyes in order to arrive at understanding 'the breadth and length, the height and depth' (Eph 3,18) of the mystery of Christ.
His catecheses on St. Paul are an eloquent example. Given during the Pauline year, they carry the unmistakable mark of the Pontiff, who in 20 brief texts was able to synthesize the principal aspects of the extraordinary personal and ecclesial life of the Apostle of the Gentiles.
Never detached from pastoral concern, Benedict xVI's discourses followed a tendentially chronological order. At the center of these texts, as in life, is the encounter with the Crucified and Resurrected Lord, the authentic heart of Pauline reflection.
It is therefore an honor for the Fondazione Internazionale Oasis to publish, with the support of Kirche in Not (Church in need), the Arabic translation of these catecheses, through the publishing house of the Paulist Fathers.
Even as we hope that this book may inaugurate a series of translations that will offer the Arab public all the extraordinary portraits of the Fathers of the Church and the great Christian writers that Benedict XVI has been depicting over the past few years, we take the occasion to say a word to the principal categories of readers whom we think this book will reach.
First of all, there are, of course, the Catholics of various Eastern rites, who, inthe Middle East, are demonstrating a vitality that is far superior to their numbers.
To know and study the teaching of the Pope is certainly the best way to firm up that gift which the Lord left his disciples: that
communio which unites men of different origins and cultures so that they become, to use an original expression of Paul VI, "an ethnic entity sui generis".
But we are equally certain that this book will be welcomed by our Christian brothers from the other Churches and ecclesial movements, especially those of very ancient origins, many of them born in the wake of Paul's original preaching.
To get to the roots of our common faith by following together the principal stages of the life of this Chamipon of the Gospel will be an opportunity to rediscover our common Christian heritage.
Lastly, we hope that this book will also find readers in the Islamic world. We know that various Muslim thinkers and theologians, even before the advent of modern criticism in the 19th century, had expressed strong doubts about the reliability of the Pauline writings, and accused the Apostle of having altered the original Christian message.
The Pope devotes some pages to this hypothesis, pointing out from the Christian perspective those elements which demonstrate the complete continuity of the Pauline preachings and the mission of the Risen Christ.
It is evident to everyone that one of the most urgent necessities of our time is better reciprocal knowledge among the faithful of different religions. Thus it is fundamental that Christians and Muslims can know the view that the other has of its own faith, without reducing it beforehand to one's own pre-conceived categories.
This is the example given us by some of the most important representatives of Arab-Islamic civilization, like the scientist al-Bîrûnî, who, without renouncing his Muslim faith, gave an account of Indian Islamic culture which was so carefully done that it retains all of its documentary value today.
The non-Christian reader can be certain of finding in this book an authoritative presentation of who St. Paul was and the role he plays within Christianity.
To get to know the viewpoint that more than a billion faithful have of this exceptional figure has an undeniable cultural interest. That this viewpoint is well founded can be verified by each reader through an objective comparison with available historical data.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 18/06/2010 21:57]