Introduction – Jubilee Year and Tribute to Pioneers, Authors, and Friends

Abstract

As part of this Jubilee Year, a tribute is due to the one whose name has become the synonym of the magazine, Father Frans Bouwen, missionary of Africa and Superior of Saint Anne in Jerusalem. Through his ecumenical zeal, his devoted love for the East, his faith in the Christian presence, his international relations and his thoroughness as Director for more than 40 years, Father Frans made POC a reference for Christianity and ecumenism in the Middle East. He established it as an almost indispensable « historical memory » for all academic research on the Churches and events of the region. Our entire team continues to rely on his collaboration and advice, which has not ceased despite the transfer of the journal to Beirut, where it was taken over by the University of Saint Joseph of Beirut to integrate it into the Faculty of Religious Sciences in 2015. Father Bouwen, together with Father Thom Sicking, remains the living memory and transmitter of a living tradition within our team. They have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day… (Mt 20). [...]