1 - Articles, 1 - Christians in the arabic world, 2 - Background

013 - ARABIAN CHRISTIAN CULTURAL HERITAGE

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Ed. The School – 12-1996

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It may be useful to remember that Muslims from Arabia settled in the Middle East around 640 AD the Christians instead occupied these lands since the early days of the spread of Christianity.

  1. Arabs: Muslims or Christians?

Can we therefore speak of Arabs or Muslims? Let us first clarify what is meant by the Arabic term. In the West the words Arabic and Muslim are often used interchangeably, almost as if they were synonyms and there was a coincidence of meaning between the two expressions. But things are different. The Arabic term indicates a geographical and cultural area, not an ethnic identity, nor a belonging to a religious confession.

Thus, arabity corresponds to a linguistic, cultural, political and historical belonging. Christians are an integral part of the Arab world and, like Muslims, they are no longer Arabs of Christians, so Christians are no less Arab than Muslims.

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1 - Articles, 6 - know each other, cohabit, converse

014 - The brothers who don’t know each other, but who may love one another

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On 7 April, Muslims will remember the sacrifice of Abraham who was ready to submit to the will of God, sacrificing his only son Ishmael if he had not stopped at the last moment.

It is the festival Aid el adha (feast of sacrifice) and it is the most important solemnity of Islam that follows, after two months, the period of fasting of the “ramadan” and starts the period of pilgrimage to Mecca, one of the five pillars of Islam. This year the Islamic festival falls in our Holy Week; moreover, other Islamic recurrences are concomitant with our Lent, time of fasting and spiritual and material sacrifice which ends with the great celebration of the Resurrection on April 12th.

These two religious recurrences, even if in different ways, intend to prepare the faithful for the ultimate purpose of life: the resurrection in the world promised by God. We want to quote Cardinal Arinzo who in his message to the Muslims says: “We, Christians and Muslims, are seekers of God, engaged in a search that is a sign of hope for every man. We can work together to give more hope to humanity. Therefore, we must accept ourselves as different, respect one another and love one another, under the gaze of God who bestows his mercy on all. We want to present ourselves to the world as believers in God and faithful to man, to his dignity and to his rights. ”

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1 - Articles, 2 - Background, 6 - know each other, cohabit, converse

015 - THE ROLE OF LASALLIANS

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L’Oasi Agende – pag.  89 – 12-1998

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Lasallians of Arab culture, a dream?

I send you my contribution to the role of the former Lasallians in the context of the opening of the relationship with Libya.

The restoration of official relations between Italy and Libya could open new horizons to the Lasallian movement in terms of dialogue and mutual knowledge of the cultures of the two shores of the Mediterranean sea.

Until not too long ago the educational mission of the Brothers was directed mainly towards the foreign community and more specifically the Italians, in a country of Arab culture, Libya. The living conditions imposed the deepening of the culture of the Motherland while the culture and traditions of the host country were not given the weight they deserved.

The phenomenon of migration is transforming Italy and Europe in a broad sense into a multicultural society, where people of different languages, religions and cultures coexist. Islam, in particular, is an increasingly present reality, although in many respects still little known.

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1 - Articles, 3 - Arab world in turmoil, 6 - know each other, cohabit, converse

016 - Rotary dreams for the XXI century

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RC.Milano S.Ambrogio – 12-1996

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At the urging of James Lacy, our international president, and encouraged by the presidents of District 2050 and the St. Ambrose club, I present my contribution, which could be one of the missions of Rotarians in the early 21st century: a bridge between different cultures and peoples.

People are getting richer and poorer and richer in the world

We see that the world’s population has more than doubled in the last 50 years, while the production of world wealth has grown by far more, but the gap between rich and poor has not narrowed. On the contrary:

  • 79% of the total wealth produced in the world is in the West,
  • 20% of the world’s population consumes 80% of total wealth and is located in the West,
  • 20% of the world’s least affluent population has 0.5% of world production.

(altro…)

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