USEK President Rev. Fr. Prof. Georges Hobeika went on a mission to Goiânia in the State of Goiás, to Campinas in the State of São Paulo and to the State capital city of São Paulo in Brazil, accompanied by a USEK delegation composed of Deputy President for Cultural Affairs Prof. Hoda Nehmé, and Latin American Studies and Cultures Center (LASCC) Director Mr. Roberto Khatlab. The purpose of the visit was to take part in conferences and meetings with Lebanese emigrants and Brazilian communities, to sign academic conventions and to inaugurate a project for digitizing the heritage of Lebanese emigrants in Brazil and Latin America.

Goiânia – The 9th International Conference on Religious Sciences, the theme of which focused on “The various facets of justice”, was held from April 24 to April 27, 2018. During this event, hosted by the Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Goiás – PUC-Goiás in Goiânia and organized by PUC-Goiás professor Dr. Valmor da Silva, Rev. Fr. Hobeika was invited to deliver the plenary lecture entitled “The Christians of the East between planned persecution and systemic world indifference”. During the same conference, which was widely attended by numerous scholars, USEK Deputy President for Cultural Affairs Prof. Hoda Nehme was invited to deliver a lecture entitled “Religion and politics: dangerous liaisons and justice in question – case of the Middle East”. Rev. Fr. Hobeika visited PUC-Goiás President Prof. Wolmir Therezio Amado, with whom he had signed the USEK-PUC-Goiás academic convention in 2012. Hobeika and Amado tackled bilateral relations, which since 2012 have led to exchanges of teachers in order to take part in conferences organized in Lebanon and Brazil. In this context, PUC-Goiás established the Centro de Estudos Brasil-Oriente Médio – CEBOM (Brazil-Middle East Studies Center) in cooperation with USEK’s Latin American Studies and Cultures Center. Between them, the two Centers have already organized four international conferences in both Lebanon and Brazil.

Rev. Fr. Hobeika was treated to an extremely warm welcome by the local Lebanese and Syrian communities in a brotherly meeting, organized by Father Rafael Magul of the Antiochian Orthodox Church of Saint Nicolas, encouraged the mainly 3rd- and 4th-generation Lebanese emigrants to reconnect with Lebanon.

Brasília – Rev. Fr. Hobeika and the USEK delegation visited Brazil’s capital city of Brasília where they met with Lebanon’s Ambassador to Brazil H. E. Joseph Sayah and his wife. During the meeting, Rev. Fr. Hobeika updated the ambassador on USEK’s activities in Brazil in order to consolidate exchanges between USEK on the one hand and, on the other, Brazilian academic institutions and the Lebanese community in Brazil.

Campinas - In Campinas in the State of São Paulo, Rev. Fr. Hobeika was invited by Campinas Archbishop Airton Santos, Chancellor of the Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Campinas – PUC-Campinas, where he was welcomed by the Archbishop and PUC-Campinas President Prof. Germano Regacci Júnior with whom he signed the USEK-PUC-Campinas academic convention. The USEK president also took part in the plenary session of the “Justice and Peace” seminar, organized by the Center for Cultural Studies and Faith at PUC-Campinas. Prof. Hoda Nehmé also delivered a lecture in this seminar.

Still in Campinas, Rev. Fr. Hobeika met with the Lebanese community on the initiative of Rev. Fr. Silouanos Chamoun, OLM, Father Superior of the community of the Maronite Church of Saint Charbel in Campinas. This moment of pure brotherhood offered USEK with an opportunity to establish contacts linking the emigrants and their descendants to Lebanon.

São Paulo, State capital – Rev. Fr. Hobeika was welcomed by Maronite Archbishop in Brazil Mgr. Edgar Madi with whom he celebrated the Sunday Mass at the Our Lady of Lebanon Cathedral. This was followed by brotherly meetings with members of São Paulo’s Lebanese community; Lebanon’s Consul General in São Paulo, Mr. Rudy Azzi; former MP, writer and professor at the Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo – PUC-São Paulo, Dr. Gabriel Chalita; and São Paulo Archbishop, Cardinal Odilo Pedro Scherer, the latter being also the Chancellor of PUC-São Paulo with whom USEK has already signed an academic convention. As such, USEK has academic relations with the three pontifical universities of Goiás, Campinas and São Paulo in Brazil, as well as with the Universidade Federal do Paraná – UFPR, always with the aim of consolidating Lebanese-Brazilian academic relations and promoting the exchange of students and teachers.

While in São Paulo, Rev. Fr. Hobeika visited the President of the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (CCAB) Dr. Rubens Hannun, in the presence of CCAB Vice-President Dr. Riad Younes and the board members of CCAB. On this occasion, the USEK president discussed the importance of emigrants’ relations with their motherland and inaugurated the studio for the Preservation of the Lebanese and Syrian Heritage at the CCAB. During this visit, he signed a convention between the two institutions for the collection of materials from Lebanese and Syrian communities in Brazil (newspapers, magazines, photos, documents, etc.) with the aim of digitizing and archiving them in the international digital library which USEK is in the process of establishing. This library project launched by USEK in relation to Latin America is the fruit of cooperation with USEK’s Latin American Studies and Cultures Center. The project, which has already started in Argentina, has been largely developed in order to preserve the rich Lebanese and Syrian heritages in Latin America, which has welcomed the greatest number of Middle Eastern and, especially, Lebanese emigrants. Over the years and despite the distance, the various generations of emigrants have kept Lebanon in their hearts, hence the current academic and brotherly move initiated by USEK towards this continent which has always had an interest in Lebanon and the Middle East.