The book “Paolo Dall’Oglio e la Comunità di Deir Mar Musa. Un deserto, una storia” by Francesca Peliti won the fourth edition of the Ambassadors to the Holy See Literary Award. The book, published by Effatà Editrice, contains a preface by Father Federico Lombardi s.j., President of the Vatican Foundation «Joseph Ratzinger-Benedict XVI».
The Jury of this fourth edition – whose President is the Ambassador Alexandra Valkenburg, Head of European Union Delegation to the Holy See, and Vice President is the Ambassador of Italy to the Holy See Francesco Di Nitto – proclaimed the winner after reviewing 63 books published in 2022.
Ten years after the kidnapping of Father Dall’Oglio, the jury of the Ambassadors Award pays homage to the founder of the monastery of Deir Mar Musa al-Habashi, or of Saint Moses the Abyssinian, who over time has become a solid point of reference for Islamic-Christian dialogue and a meeting place between East and West. Francesca Peliti, friend of Father Dall’Oglio and President of the Friends of Deir Mar Musa Association, collects in a volume the testimonies of some members of the monastic community born in Syria, not only to tell its historical experience, but to celebrate the profound spiritual legacy that still guides community choices today in the name of hospitality and interreligious dialogue. From this book comes a message focused on the culture of tolerance and coexistence, with particular reference to the importance of religions in the promotion of universal fraternity in the wake of Pope Francis’ Encyclical “Fratelli tutti”.
The award ceremony will be held at the Borromeo Palace, seat of the Embassy of Italy to the Holy See, on a date which will be announced at a later time.
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This Literary Award, born in 2019 from the initiative of a large group of Ambassadors to the Holy See also to pay homage to the language of Dante and the country that hosts their embassies, is open to authors who publish books in Italian for the general public on topics related to Christian culture and values, relations between Christian Churches and States, the history of Christian Churches and interreligious dialogue.
The President and Vice President of the Jury thank the Italian Booksellers Association (Associazione Librai Italiani o ALI), the Italian Publishers Association (Associazione Italiana Editori or AIE), the Association of Independent Publishers (Associazione degli Editori Indipendenti or ADEI) and the Union of Italian Catholic Publishers and Booksellers (Unione Editori e Librai Cattolici Italiani or UELCI) for their fruitful cooperation, in addition to the publishing houses who kindly provided copies of the books that participated in the literary prize. Finally, special recognition goes to the Advisory Committee – made up of a delegate from the Dicastery for Culture and Education, a delegate from the Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences, eminent academics and other personalities of recognized authority in the promotion of Christian culture – for their precious analysis work and for the support offered to the Jury in the book evaluation and selection process.
