At the beginning of this year, many students and researchers travelled to Jerusalem to study at the ÉBAF.
Coming from all around the world, their diversity testifies to the wide variety of backgrounds, cultures, statuses, origins and aspirations of those who have come to study at the school.
However, this year, for the second time running, the new academic year begins in wartime. So it was a particularly motivated and close-knit team that gathered at the Couvent Saint-Etienne for this first phase of exploring the EBAF’s resources and developing the academic projects that characterise the back-to-school session.
At a time when the outside world is marked by violence and uncertainty, the library is once again a safe and welcoming refuge for passionate researchers. Thanks to the tireless work of our cataloguers and librarians, they will be able to take advantage of the 5,000 new books that have been added to the 460,000 volumes already on our shelves.
The new researchers learn about the library, October 1st 2024.
Photo: ÉBAF, Ordo Prædicatorum.
Keeping the logistics of a great house like the ÉBAF afloat is no mean feat in times of instability, but it is in a renewed team spirit that brothers, sisters, researchers and volunteers come together again today around a common goal.
Launched under the patronage of Saint Jerome, this week’s back-to-school seminar saw us go from darkness to light. From the bombardments of the night to the topographical outing the next day, it was the fraternity, the rigour, the perseverance and the enthusiasm that will undoubtedly remain in the memories of the new arrivals. Through the acquisition of new disciplines, sciences and techniques, everyone will strive to bring their project to fruition, in dialogue with the other members of the academic community.
So, circumstances notwithstanding, we are determined to pursue the mission entrusted to us: to contemplate and pass on what we have contemplated. As one young researcher said on the evening of his arrival, “It’s a grace to come and study here”.
You have a place in this vast undertaking.
We’re counting on your support.