Saint John’s to Present Highest Honor to Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – Saint John’s Abbey and University will present its highest honor, the Pax Christi Award, to the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch, His Beatitude Ignatius IV Hazim, on Sunday, May 15. The event will begin at 5 p.m. with Evening Prayer in the Abbey Church, which is open to the general public. The invitation-only dinner and award presentation will follow in the Great Hall.

His Beatitude’s relationship with Saint John’s arises from his support for the work of the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library (HMML), a sponsored program of SJU. The Patriarch’s commitment to safeguarding the Middle East’s priceless Christian heritage has helped guide and support HMML’s work in Lebanon, Syria and Turkey, preserving the manuscripts held in monasteries and libraries, and making them accessible throughout the world via www.hmml.org.

As Patriarch of Antioch, His Beatitude is the third ranking hierarch of the Orthodox Church, after the Patriarchs of Constantinople and Alexandria. He stands in a line of succession traceable to St. Peter, the first bishop of Antioch, and is known for his abiding interest in programs for Orthodox youth and encouragement of education at all levels. Particularly notable are his commitments to theological education as Dean at the Seminary at Balamand, leading to the establishment of the Saint John of Damascus Institute of Theology in 1970; his leadership in ecumenism as a president of the World Council of Churches and founder of the Middle East Council of Churches, and his concern for the religious formation of young people in the Antiochian Orthodox Church.

Three years ago, the HMML Board of Overseers identified the Eastern Christian cultures of the Middle East, Asia Minor and the Caucasus as its next strategic priority. From the beginning, the Patriarch has encouraged HMML in these efforts as it dedicates itself to new projects that will preserve manuscripts in Lebanon, Syria and Turkey, and make them available to scholars and others throughout the world.

The Pax Christi Award cites His Beatitude in particular for having “long recognized that the patrimony preserved in the Church’s manuscripts must be shared widely, and with all Christians.”  The Rev. Columba Stewart, OSB, executive director of HMML, notes that “His Beatitude is a true leader in the Middle East, both spiritually and intellectually.  In encouraging HMML to undertake new projects that preserve priceless manuscripts, and in his work with Saint John’s as a Catholic monastery and university, he has been an inspiration to many.  As Christian communities in the Middle East become smaller because of emigration, the Patriarch recognizes the importance of preserving the Christian heritage and of using technology to join scattered members in the diaspora. It is also more and more crucial today to teach Christians of the West about the origins of Christianity in the Middle East, and to enlist the assistance of western Christians in supporting their brothers and sisters of the eastern churches.”

HMML was founded 40 years ago in response to the devastating loss of manuscripts and books during the two World Wars.  It is the only institution in the world exclusively dedicated to the photographic preservation and study of manuscripts, particularly in locations where war, theft, or physical conditions pose a threat. Since its inception, HMML has built the world’s largest collection of manuscript images, having photographed some 90,000 manuscripts totaling almost 30 million pages.  HMML is also a leader in the development of electronic cataloguing for manuscripts and the collection and display of digital images of manuscripts.

As the highest honor awarded by Saint John’s the Pax Christi Award recognizes those who have devoted themselves to God by working in the tradition of Benedictine monasticism to serve others and to build a heritage of faith in the world. The Award has been presented to 50 individuals. Past recipients include the late Cardinal Leo Jozef Suenens of Belgium; the former representative of the Holy See in the United States Archbishop Jean Jadot; former senator and presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy; the late Archbishop John Roach of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis; Mary Jo Copeland, founder and director of Minneapolis’ Sharing and Caring Hands; Amy Grant, a contemporary Christian singer; and the late Cardinal Joseph Bernardin of the Chicago Archdiocese.