 30 Aprile 2022NEWSFLASH ANTIOCH: APRIL 2022
April 1st.The Mufti of Antioch brings some friends to visit the Catholic Church. The two ladies ask for a gospel.
April 2nd. It is Fr. Domenico’s 35th anniversary in Antioch!
- This morning Ramadan begins. It is the month of fasting for Muslims and there are many who do not eat, drink or smoke from sunrise to sunset!
- A delegation from the city of Aalen in Germany which is twinned with Antakya visits our church. They have come for the opening of EXPO ’21 HATAY. The deputy mayor of the city leads the delegation.
April 3rd. A large building bordering the Orontes river has been demolished exposing the black building next to the Saray Hotel which was the first home of the Capuchins in Antioch from 1846-1939.
April 8th. Some presenters from the Turkish channel ATV visit our church.
April 10th. After two months of twice weekly meetings we complete the initial catechesis and the second community is joined by 8 young people (four of whom are non-Christians) plus a Protestant and a 10-year-old girl! The Catechists are Abut-Anet and Corc-Nida. We thank them!
April 11th. Bishop Paolo Bizzeti brings a small group of young Italians and a US Jesuit. They celebrate in our church. Tomorrow, they will set out to walk the two day route, from Cevlik (the old port of Antioch) along the unspoiled coast of the Gulf of Iskenderun, to Arsuz !
- From Italy on Zoom, the itinerant catechists of the Neocatechumenal Way give a catechesis to the communities of Istanbul, Izmir and Antioch, to help them live the upcoming Easter well.
April 14th. Three high school students and their teacher make a short documentary on Christianity in Antioch/Antakya. They record a long conversation with me and at the end the girl asks if she can hug me!
April 15th. We receive, from the USA, an old photograph of the Catholic Church of Antioch dating back to between 1876-1909!
April 16th. After a gap of two years (due to the pandemic) I participate in the Passover. In fact they call me early as they do not have the ten men needed for a quorum though in the end there are fifteen! (Photo from previous years).
- Celebration of Palm Sunday with the procession!
April 17th. A girl from Koç University in Istanbul comes to ask me for help with the thesis she is preparing on St. Peter's Grotto.
April 19th. Ambassador Devrim Ozturk comes to visit our church. In fact, a new office, Foreign Affairs Ambassador in Hatay, has been established due to the various foreign missions to Syria that operate from our province.
- A small group of Italians from Florence led by fr. Francesco Alpi comes to celebrate in our church. Fr. Francesco has been here before. He came in 2017 but then he was only a deacon.
April 21st. After more than 2 and a half months and a bad relapse with Covid-19, Fr. Francis returns to Antakya. Amongst other things, he is beautifully tanned from being in India in the middle of summer.
April 22nd A group of pilgrims from Mauritius, an island in the Indian Ocean, visits the church. They are all women except one man and their priest, Fr Edy.
April 23rd. Two young French women, Mayalen Castelbajac (camera operator) and Lucile Quillet (journalist) are making a documentary, Invitation au voyage, on the origins of Christianity in Antioch for TV ARTE. I give a long interview in the Grotto of St Peter, in the garden of today's Catholic “House-Church” and in the surrounding lanes.
- After two years we can finally celebrate Easter during the night. It is always a beautiful spiritual and ecclesial experience. From the afternoon of Good Friday, a prolonged fast is announced which will end at Easter morning Mass. We start at midnight on Saturday and finish at 03.45 on Sunday. We then go for breakfast in a nearby restaurant. They also prepared coloured eggs for us. At dawn we participate in the announcement of Easter in the Orthodox Church. Here are some photos.
- April 24th. EASTER. At 11 am the city authorities led by the Prefect come to greet the Christians!
- At 5 pm Sunday Mass. In the “second” church, Bishop Paolo Bizzeti holds a conference and celebrates Mass for a group (33) of Italian pilgrims mainly from the Veneto region.
April 25th In the Orthodox Church this evening, during the prayer, the Gospel is proclaimed in 7 languages. The neighbouring Orthodox Priests are also present. Francis and I are among the guests. We read the Thomas passage in Italian and French!
April 27th. Tonight it is the turn of the Catholic church to host the Orthodox with Vespers and then a simple party in the garden.
April 29th. In the afternoon we visit EXPO'21 HATAY: it is almost deserted. There are more people around in the evening though with the restaurants at full capacity and audiences at concerts. The Stands however remain empty
April 30th. A national newspaper - POSTA - officially announces the end of the pandemic in Turkey. The virus has infected over 15,000,000 Turks with almost 100,000 deaths including 500 health workers…
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