On the occasion of the 1600th Jubilee of St. Maron’s death (410 – 2010), the Holy Spirit University of Kaslik (USEK), in collaboration with the Patriarchal Committee of St. Maron’s Jubilee, organized on December 2 and 3, 2010 a colloquium on: “Sources of Maronite History from Early Ages till Date”.

The ceremony was inaugurated with the speech of Prof. Tanios Njeim wherein he underlined that he who is not aware of his past and its origins may err in assimilating his present and future. Whereas Rev. Fr. Karam Rizk, USEK Vice-President and Dean of the Faculty of Letters, highlighted in his speech the everlasting achievements of the Maronites throughout history ranging from civilizational to literary, pointing out to the thousands of manuscripts which have not been all counted yet and stressing the fact that Maronites have always adopted dialogue and peace without any equivocation or ambiguity and coexisted with several communities without any kind of differentiation or discrimination and this is what led His Holiness Pope John-Paul II to say that Lebanon is more than just a homeland, it is a message.

Rev. Fr. Hady Mahfouz, USEK President, expressed his delight at such colloquium which reflects that our University is paying tribute once again to the Maronite and showing freedom in dealing with the Maronite identity through search of sources of Maronite history. He pointed out as well that those who are sharp-sighted are aware that history does not rule and that in writing history, Man can fake history or miss some of its parts. Those who are sharp-sighted reckon that what matters is the ruling of the Lord of History…