With the sun rising on Wednesday, August 27, 2015, marking the birth of a new day, the abouna.org site celebrates its 12th anniversary--with this site taking a prominent place among numerous electronic websites that post thousands of pieces of news, reports, articles and analyses on daily bases. Regardless of the number of hits this site enjoys, as well as away from chauvinism, narcissism, prejudice and bragging--as was the case with Joseph who dreamt that the sun, the moon and eleven stars were bowing down to him--we have the right this year to thank the Almighty God for the grace of love, since love is the charm that overwhelms everything with beauty and magnificence.
Love in the field of media implies that the workers in this field ought to espouse the "culture of meeting," which Pope Francis has been addressing. This culture was also addressed by his predecessors, namely Benedict XVI and John Paul II, who is still the intercessor for this site and those in charge of it. This very culture may seem to be easy to follow, yet it undergoes changes being a policy of life and media. The culture of today--assuming we can call it as such--implies the cancellation of others. It is merely religious and ethnic bigotry, since our countries are abounding with those who adopt tribal and sectarian thoughts. The sprouting of extremist movements everywhere and their desire to throw others out is an inevitable consequence of the culture prevailing nowadays.
Furthermore, since religious and ethnic bigotry have become the norm in our time, we reiterate that "we have made advances in the field of technology but we did lag behind culturally."We cannot brand anything that is "electronic" as being civilized and progressive, for it is the crucible in which we keep love with all its forms and colors to preserve the multi-colors of the Orient, away from isolation and scrambling to disseminate the culture of "monotony".
Amid this messy situation--which is not creative as a former US president had stated, but rather destructive--the abouna.org site, which was launched 12 years ago from Smakiyeh township in southern Jordan, will always highlight major issues, as Pope Francis had stated, without taking notice of people with authority or influence. This site will continue to defend human right to lead a decent living, and ensure openness to the others components of the local or Arab communities, as well as the humanitarian components wherever they are. That is why our slogan is "Media in the Service of Humanity".
This year is distinguished. It is the 12th anniversary, a noble number in the Holy Bible. The achievements made by the abouna.org site are attributed to the great efforts exerted in this regard and the writers who made it outstanding. This anniversary coincided with the first anniversary of the displacement of Iraqis who are our beloved brethren not only in terms of religion but rather in terms of the pain from which the people of the region as a whole do suffer. Furthermore, it is one year after the launching of the English-language site, which is thoroughly checked by our friends and relatives living abroad. Last year, a firm partnership was hammered out with several heavily viewed sites such as Italian La Stampa newspaper, Vatican Insider and others.
Furthermore, last year, ''Stefan Shani'' was chosen as the man of the year as he served as abouna.org correspondent from Erbil covering issues relevant to the displaced Iraqis, thus serving as abouna.org's window that overlooks the world. I have also the pleasure to thank two people. The first one is Mathew Shamami, an Iraqi national who provides the site with reports on regular bases, such reports that meet the approval and satisfaction of thousands of readers. The second one is Sameh Mdanat who lives in Los Angeles. Despite the ailment he has had, this did not stop him from sending news items, reports and translations to abouna.org site. We pray that he will soon be fully recovered.
Many thanks also go to the Latin Patriarchate which owns the Catholic Center for Studies and Media in charge of running this site, to the Custodia Terrae Sancatae-Franciscan, as well as to all our partners in Jordan, the Arab countries, the Vatican and the whole world.
Having marked the 12th anniversary, we hope that next year will be better than this year. We hope to mark the 13th anniversary at a time when the conditions of the Arab peoples and the fragmented Arab homeland have improved. We also hope that other electronic sites, particularly the new ones, have love and integrity serving as the bases of their work. This is the least we demand from sites with religious and humanitarian characters.
Best wishes on the 12th anniversary hoping that you will remember us in your prayers. When loves prevails in field of media a new tinge prevails, for without love there can be no media.
On behalf of abouna.org site employees
Fr. Rif'at Bader/ editor-in-chief
