austraL asia 1150
History is made -again - in Jerusalem
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.
_________________
History is made -again - in Jerusalem
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.
_________________
AustraLasia is an email service for the Salesian Family of Asia Pacific. It also functions as an agency for ANS based in Rome. For RSS feeds, subscribe to www.bosconet.aust.com/rssala.xml. If you subscribe, email this information and your name will come off the regular email list. RSS eliminates problems such as multiple mailings, viruses, email bloat. Think about it!
