Monsignor Hugues de Woillemont

Mgr Hugues de Woillemont is the general director of L'Œuvre d'Orient, a French Catholic association celebrating its 170th year this year. It supports Eastern Christians in more than twenty countries, in the Middle East, Eastern Europe, the Horn of Africa and India, through educational, social, heritage and pastoral projects. For two millennia, Christian communities have lived in the heart of the Middle East, the cradle of Christianity. Today weakened by wars, political crises and exile, they nonetheless remain essential actors in the social, educational and cultural life of their countries. Why does their future also concern Europe and the rest of the world? Based on his field experience and his encounters with local Churches, Mgr Hugues de Woillemont will offer insight into the challenges these Christian communities of the Middle East face and the reasons to hope for their future. The lecture by Mgr de Woillemont also falls within the framework of the celebrations of the centenary of the Belgian Lieutenance of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sépulcre de Jérusalem. Monseigneur Hugues de Woillemont has chosen as the title of his lecture at our platform: "Christians of the East: why their future concerns us?".