On Nov. 15, students and professors from the École biblique and the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum gathered at the headquarters of the prestigious French biblical and archaeological school in Jerusalem for the joint opening of the academic year. As per tradition, the "Dies Academicus" is celebrated jointly between two of the most important Catholic academic institutions present in the Holy Land. This fosters mutual exchange and knowledge. The event is held alternately at one of the two locations each year. Fr JEAN JAQUES PÉRENNÈS, op Director of the École biblique - Jerusalem "We are glad to be together, for me this is the most important thing. We have been collaborating with Franciscans for years and we do it with great pleasure. It's been a fairly normal year: after the Covid years the students have returned, there is enthusiasm and we are happy to start again and also to have collaborative projects." The director of the École Biblique outlined the activities carried out over the past year and those in the pipeline, including a major study day on December 15 on the "Vetus latina," the oldest Latin version of the Bible, a topic that has been much studied lately by researchers. Br. Rosario Pierri, dean of the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum, also reviewed the events that marked the academic year of this institution, including numerous scientific publications, several conferences and the biblical-theological refresher course. He also stressed the importance of the synergy and collaboration between the two Schools, which are different in the scientific output they make available to academia and the wider public. Br ROSARIO PIERRI, ofm Studium Biblicum Franciscanum Dean "In Jerusalem there is a diversity of production, thought and educational proposal that I think is not found elsewhere in the world. There is no comparison. This collaboration is a fruit of an evolution in thinking: before we were more independent, now we collaborate much more. Not only on the level of student exchange, but also with publications edited together." Br. Pierri also addressed a thought to Br. Frederic Manns, biblical scholar and specialist in New Testament exegesis, who passed away in December 2021, letting the images of the video prepared by the Christian Media Center in his memory flow. Professor Marc Girard, a specialist on the biblical Psalter, gave the lecture on the topic, "The Psalter. A New Kind of Commentary," speaking about a new kind of commentary on the Psalms that he is pursuing as part of the École Biblique's research program "The Bible in its Traditions." Professor Girard tells us about his many years of meditation on biblical texts, mainly on the Psalms. Prof MARC GIRARD Professor Emeritus - Université du Québec (Canada) "I started when I was 25 and today I am 77, maybe the threshold age, but I am continuing. Apart from the four Gospels, the Psalms are the most used book in the daily life of the Church. It is the daily bread for everyone. It is an interesting book as long as we interpret it in the right way. I have learned to always see, under the text of the Bible, but especially in the psalms, the presence of the living Christ. I say the Word, as in Genesis and John's Gospel as "Dabar" in Hebrew and "Logos" in Greek, this you say speaking, because Christ is the speaking action." Read More