On the morning of Wednesday, June 25, His Eminence Metropolitan Saba (Isber), Archbishop of New York and Metropolitan of All North America, visited the Saab Cultural Center at the University of Balamand, accompanied by a group of seminarians, seminary alumni, and clergy as part of their pilgrimage to Lebanon. The delegation was warmly received by the Center’s President, Dr. Adib Saab, and its Manager, Mrs. Mona Naim.
Adib Saab, Professor of Philosophy at Saint John of Damascus Institute of Theology since its founding days, delivered a brief address at the William Saab Hall outlining the mission of the Cultural Center. He began by emphasizing the vital role of research centers within institutions of higher learning, then encapsulated the Center’s vision with the following statement:
“Adib and Helene Saab Center for Antiochian Letters and Culture at the University of Balamand is a learned institution whose founders intended to promote research and innovation in the various fields of humanities, and to emphasize the Levantine contribution to Arab and universal civilization, aiming at motivating a new culture in the line of enlightenment and renaissance”.
Saab added that the Antiochian cultural heritage, past and present, includes historians, philosophers, politicians, novelists, playwrights, and poets, besides great figures of the Antiochian Diaspora, especially in North and South America, who introduced modernity to contemporary Arab literature and thought. One of the Center’s key objectives is to motivate research about these pioneers and movements to appear as books and papers in the two journals that the Center intends to publish. Moreover, conferences, lectures, book fairs, book signings, art exhibitions, and related activities are to be held, all aiming at the advancement of humanities in and through UOB.
Adib Saab concluded his talk by inviting the esteemed visitors to explore the Center’s website by by searching “Saab Cultural Center Balamand,” and encouraged them to share their written contributions or send inquiries to the designated email address.
