On October 16th 2018, His Holiness Patriarch Mor Ignatius Aphrem II visited the Foundation of the Religious Sciences – Pope John XXIII, in Bologna – Italy.
His Holiness was received by Prof. Alberto Melloni, Director of the Foundation, in the presence of the Catholic Archbishop of Bologna Mgr. Matteo Zuppi.
His Holiness made a tour in the library of the foundation, which contains images of old Syriac manuscripts.
Later, His Holiness gave a word before the scholars and phd students in which he spoke about the Syriac Church history and the importance of building academic bridged and links between the East and the West, in addition to the significance of working on making the oriental studies known to the international academic society.
His Holiness was accompanied by Very Rev. Raban Joseph Bali, Patriachal Secretary and Media Office Director.