Catholic World News News Feature

Cardinal launches journal for Christians in the Islamic world July 19, 2004

Cardinal Angelo Scola of Venice has launched a new journal, Oasis , to focus on scholarly ties between Western Christians and the lands of the East, particularly the Arabic world.

Oasis is to be published by the Studium General Marcianum, a new university also founded by the Patriarch of Venice to serve Christians living in the Islamic world. Speaking to the Italian daily Corriere della Sera, Cardinal Sodano said that the new publication could provide "a common ground for meeting" between Christians living in Europe and those of the East. "A bishop living in a country where no sign of Christianity can be expressed" might find that the magazine affords him "support and help," he said. "He could write a note, and it could be read in Kerala or in Lyon," he said.

Since his appointment in 2002 as Patriarch of Venice, Cardinal Scola has devoted himself to reviving that city's traditional reputation as a gateway to the Islamic world. He said that Oasis would promote "ties of understanding and friendship with the Muslim world."

Oasis will be published in three bilingual editions: Italian/Arabic, French/Arabic, and English/Arabic. It will be distributed in Europe, the Middle East, and sub-Saharan Africa. Among the noted Church leaders who have lent their support to the new editorial venture are Cardinal Christoph Schönborn of Vienna and Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, prefect of the Congregation for Evangelization.