Giving voice to the Pope for Arabic-speaking Christians
Dear reader,
For almost two years now, Arabic-speakers have been able to read the Pope's words and news of the Church in their own language. ZENIT launched its Arabic edition in November of 2006, right before Benedict XVI made his memorable apostolic journey to Turkey.
As part of our annual fundraising campaign, we thought you would like to hear from our teammates who make the Arabic edition possible, Tony Assaf and Robert Cheaib.
Q: Where did the idea for the Arabic edition come from?
Assaf: We observed a tremendous lack of direct and unbiased information about the Christian world in general, and the Catholic world in particular.
This lack of adequate information was fatally demonstrated after Benedict XVI's discourse at the University of Regensburg. For us, launching ZENIT in Arabic has not meant simply creating an information service, but rather, it has meant offering a service to the truth as an indispensable element for knowledge of and peaceful coexistence with other religions.
Q: Are there Muslim readers?
Cheaib: Yes, particularly, there are illustrious intellectuals and religious and political leaders from the Muslim world, as well as religious personalities from various countries of the Arab world.
Q: Can Christians in countries that lack religious freedom still read ZENIT?
Cheaib: ZENIT is free and everyone who is interested can have access. Moreover, our daily service is published -- sometimes in its entirety -- by various prestigious Arabic sites, even some that aren't Christian.
Q: Tony, what do readers say in the messages they send?
Assaf: The messages of encouragement and thanks from ecclesiastical representatives and non-Christian readers are a confirmation that our service is not something that's "optional." Rather, it is a necessity of our times.
The variety of the service doesn't just respond to the need for information, but also formative needs that Arabic-speaking Christian populations have. And we frequently receive messages from missionaries who use our services for their formative mission and for catechesis.
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Don't forget about our annual campaign.
You can help ZENIT to keep growing -- giving a voice to the Pope and the Church and arriving to more and more people of good will, even in the most distant countries and those that suffer most.
Help us to reach the goal of US$380,000
Our ability to continue our services -- and the impact this can have around the world -- depends on you.
To send a donation:
http://www.zenit.org/english/donation.html
Thank you and best wishes,
Kathleen Naab
ZENIT
