Tantur Newsletter: May/June 2016

The Fullness of Spring and Summer
by Dan Koski, Tantur Staff

With our two Easter dates being so distant from one another this spring, it seemed that summer was right on the heels of the second Holy Week. While somewhat of a logistical inconvenience for the Christian churches, communities and institutions of the Holy Land, it did generate a good deal of enthusiastic discussion on the benefits of observing Great Lent, Holy Week and “The Feast of Feasts” on the same date.

In short order, however, our attention turned to other concerns with the Pan-Orthodox Synod held in Crete, then followed by the announcement that the out-going Franciscan Custos, Fr. Pierrebatista Pizzaballa, who completed a successful and extended term of office in April, would step in as the interim Apostolic Administrator of the Latin Patriarchate, following the end of HB Patriarch Foud Twal’s term of office, having reached the customary retirement age of seventy-five.

As the title implies, the appointment of Pizzaballa is a transitional move until Pope Francis appoints a new Latin Patriarch. In turn, the office of the Custos has since passed to Fr. Francesco Patton,OFM.

We’ve had a busy spring and early summer ourselves; two wonderful continuing education programs along with our University of Notre Dame undergraduates, with more than a few academic institutions partnering with us for their educational tours in the Holy Land. Our springtime scholars, Sara Lu and Timothy B. Sailors, have been tending to their work and taking part in our new initiative, “Tuesdays At Tantur,” with a great deal of enthusiasm. And as always with this time of year, the roses are in bloom and the hot sunny days seem to stretch on forever.

It has been a full spring and summer, with more to come. May it be as pleasant and enjoyable in your part of the world as it has been at Tantur.

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