The event, set for 19-23 June, will focus on the topic of “Education between faith and culture”. More than 70 Catholic and Muslim religious and intellectual figures are expected to attend. For organisers, the gathering provides an opportunity to look at Christian life in Muslim countries, in light of the recent assassination of Mgr Luigi Padovese in Turkey.

Beirut (AsiaNews/Oasis) – “Education between Faith and Culture: Christian and Muslim Experiences in Dialogue” is the title of this year’s annual meeting of the scientific committee of the Oasis Foundation, scheduled for 19-23 June in Beirut. Some 70 scholars, academics, Catholic bishops and Muslim leaders from around the world will gather in the Lebanese capital for the fifth edition of the meeting. AsiaNews editor Fr Bernardo Cervellera will also be there. Card Nasrallah Sfeir, patriarch of Lebanon, and Card Jean-Louis Tauran, President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, are also expected to attend.

The 2010 meeting comes only three weeks after the death of Mgr Luigi Padovese, bishop of Iskenderun (Turkey), who was murdered on 3 June, a few months before the Synod of the Middle East, set to take place next October in Cyprus.

More than ever, the committee plans to use this opportunity to look at Christian life in predominantly Muslim countries, the Oasis Foundation said.

Created in 2004 by Card Angelo Scola, Patriarch of Venice, the Oasis Foundation promotes mutual understanding between Christians and Muslims. It does so through a biannual journal, a monthly newsletter, a book collection and a website.

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