Pope Benedict XVI Will Read a Message at Opening Event of the International Book Fair in Santo Domingo

Pope Benedict XVI Will Read a Message at Opening Event of the International Book Fair in Santo Domingo
Vatican City 04/11/2011

On the morning of April 8th, an important press conference was held in the John Paul II Auditorium to reveal the details involved in the participation of the Holy See in the XIV International Book Fair of Santo Domingo in which the Vatican is the Guest of Honor.

“The Book Fair of Santo Domingo has become the most important cultural expression in the Dominican Republic as well as a forum for the manifestation of all forms of art and culture such as music, dance, visual arts and theater with books as the central element of this grand event,”

The press conference, attended by 40 media representatives from around the world including the Italian press, was presided over by Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, President of the Pontifical Council of Culture.
 
Cardinal Ravasi told the press that the Dominican government, through the Ministry of Culture, has selected the Vatican to be the Guest of Honor at the International Book Fair as a way of commemorating 500 years since the establishment of the first diocese on the American continent. The Book Fair will take place from May 4-22.
 
“The Book Fair of Santo Domingo has become the most important cultural expression in the Dominican Republic as well as a forum for the manifestation of all forms of art and culture such as music, dance, visual arts and theater with books as the central element of this grand event,” said Ravasi.

“The Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI has accepted this invitation with great pleasure, this being the first time the Holy See has participated as a Guest of Honor in an international book fair,” added Cardinal Ravasi who has been designated by Pope Benedict as his delegate and coordinator of the Vatican Pavilion at the Fair. 

The Prelate, a member of the College of Cardinals, reported that Pope Benedict will broadcast live a special message to the Dominican Republic during the opening act of the International Book Fair on May 4th.

Cardinal Ravasi, referred to by the press as “the Pope´s Minister of Culture,” reported that he signed a collaboration agreement with the Dominican Ministry of Culture that assures the participation of 20 high level participants from the Vatican as well as artistic presentations, concerts and other activities. The Vatican delegation will donate an appreciable number of books written by Catholic authors which will then be given to Dominican public schools and libraries “as a way of contributing to a better knowledge of contemporary Catholic literature for the new generation of Dominicans,” said the Prelate.

Vatican institutions, in addition to the Pontifical Council of Culture, 
that will be participating in the Book Fair include the Vatican Editrice Book Shop, the Vatican Museums, the Vatican Apostolic Library and the Secret Vatican Archive.

Other participating Vatican institutions include the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, the Vatican Internet Office, the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, the Vatican Observatory and the Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archeology. In all, eleven institutions from the Vatican will be presenting the Church and the Holy See´s cultural activities at the Dominican Book Fair.

At the press conference, Cardinal Ravasi was accompanied by Mons. Giuseppe Costa, Director of the Vatican Editrice Book Shop; Father Miguel Angel Reyes, Director of the Latin American Department of the Pontifical Council of Culture and Dominican Ambassador to the Vatican,  Víctor Grimaldi Céspedes.

PROGRAM

The Vatican program at the Dominican Book Fair begins with the inauguration of their pavilion on Thursday May 5th at 11 am. At 7 pm that same day Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi will give a conference in the Carlos Piantini Hall of the Eduarto Brito National Theater. His topic will be “The Pontifical Council of Culture and the Cultural Policy of the Holy See.”

On Friday, May 6th, there will be a round table on the “Cultural History of the Church in Latin America” at 6 pm. Participants include Cardinal Nicolás de Jesús López Rodríguez, Archbishop of Santo Domingo, along with Father Jose Luis Sáez and Father Fidel González Fernández. This activity will also take place in the Carlos Piantini Hall of the National Theater.

This same day, at 8 pm in the Culture Hall of the National Theatre, there will be a presentation of the Exhortation on the Word of God “Verbum Domini,” led by Cardinal Ravasi and Father Fidel Oñoro.

On Saturday, the 7th at Culture Hall, one of the Vatican delegates, Father  Fidel González Fernández, will hold a conference on “Holiness in Latin America” at 4 pm. At 8 pm, Cardinal Ravasi will meet with young people at the Loyola College.

At 5 pm on Sunday the 8th in the Museum of Modern Art, the Pontifical Commission of Sacred Archeology, presided over by Professor Fabrizio Bisconti, will present the latest discoveries made in the Roman Catacombs. At 6 pm on Sunday, Trina Moya de Vásquez´ book, “La patria y el hogar” (“Country and Home” edited by Editrice Vaticana), will be presented in Culture Hall.   

At 8 pm in Carlos Piantini Hall, there will be a concert offered by the Ministry of Culture in the name of the Dominican government to honor Gianfranco Ravasi and the Vatican delegation. The concert will feature the Choral group of the Primada Cathedral, led by José Delmonte and the National Symphonic Orchestra under the baton of Maestro José Antonio Molina.

On Monday the 9th at 5 pm in the Museum of Modern Art, Professor Fabrizio Bisconti will offer another conference. The theme will be “Fundamental Aspects of Paleo-Christian Iconography.” At 6 pm in the Culture Hall, Father Emilio Alberich will present the Pope´s Catechism to the general audience. At 8 pm, Father Giuseppe Costa, considered to be the Pope´s editor, will give a conference on the Holy See´s Publishing House.

On Tuesday May 10th, Father Pablo Blanco will talk about “J. Ratzinger-Benedict XVI, His Life and Theology.” This event will take place at 5 pm in Culture Hall followed at 8 pm by a round table on the “Evangelization and Catechism and its Effect on the Holy See in Latin America, Art and in Catechism,” in which Father Pablo Blanco, Father Emilio Alberich and Monsignor Joseph Iacabone will speak.

On Wednesday the 11th, Father Guillermo Hugo Ortíz will give a talk in the Museum of Modern about the Vatican Radio; May 12th, speeches from the Pontifical Council for Social Communications will also take place at the Museum of Modern Art followed by a presentation of Benedict XVI´s book, “Jesus of Nazareth.”

“The Church in the Digital Age” is the topic Monsignor Lucio Ruiz intends to focus on in the Museum of Modern Art at 5 pm on Friday the 13th followed by Dr. Leticia Soberón who will talk about the “History of Social Communications in the Holy See and the New Languages.” At 7 pm, Pope John Paul´s book “Don y Misterio” will be presented

On Saturday the 14th at the Museum of Modern Art, Monsignor Iacobone will discuss “Art and Faith, Benedict XVI and Artists.” This presentation will be followed by “The Roman Origins of Marist Iconography.” On Monday May 16th, there will be a roundtable discussion on Pope John Paul II moderated by Nuncio Josep Wesolowsky and Dr. Paloma Gómez Borrero.
 
Tuesday the 17th will be dedicated to the topic “Young People and the Youth Pastoral in Latin America”; Wednesday the 18th to Science and Faith and “The Challenge of Inter-Culturalism,” with the participation of, among other specialists, Mons. Barthelémy Adoukonou.

“Youth and Family during Benedict XVI and the Education Emergency” is the topic for Friday the 20th, to be led Professor Pedro Morandé; on Saturday the 21st there will be a debate on “Faith and Reason in the Thought of Benedict XVI”. Sunday May 22nd, the closing day of the Book Fair, the focus will be on “Education, Culture and Development and the Social Function of the Catholic University.”

A total of 20 specialists of various nationalities within the Catholic Church will form part of the Vatican delegation to this extraordinary Dominican cultural event.

Poster of the XIV International Book Fair of Santo Domingo.