First summer language internship in Paris for Orthodox students

9 Aug 2021

For the first time, a group of Orthodox students sponsored by the Catholic Committee for Cultural Collaboration is attending a French language course in Paris at the Institut Catholique, during the months of July and August.

Belonging to different Orthodox Churches, the students are currently following their theological formation at the Orthodox Center of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Chambésy. Welcomed by the Sulpician Fathers in the Maison Saint-Sulpice, the stay offers the students the opportunity to make various cultural visits and ecumenical meetings.

On 7 July, accompanied by Prof. Katherine Shirk-Lucas, director of studies at the Institut Supérieur d'Etudes Œcuméniques, the students visited the Anglican Church of St. George, where they were received by Revd. Mark Osborne.

On 17 July, the group met with Ms Brigitte Vilanova, Orthodox Vice-President of ACAT (Action of Christians for the Abolition of Torture). On August 7, accompanied by the Revd. Fr. Hyacinthe Destivelle, Official of the Eastern Section of the PCPCU, the students visited the Cathedral of Chartres, where they were welcomed by the Rector, Revd. Emmanuel Blondeau. They also visited the "Séminaire des Barbelés", marked by the figure of the Servant of God Franz Stock, pioneer of Franco-German reconciliation.

Established in 1964, the Catholic Committee for Cultural Collaboration, aims at re-establishing fraternal relations between the Catholic Church, the Orthodox Churches and the Eastern Orthodox Churches, by promoting cultural projects of mutual interest.