Bethlehem: The Ephpheta Institute celebrates its 40th anniversary

On 22 October, at the chapel of the Ephpheta School in Bethlehem, the 40th anniversary of the founding of the Pontifical Institute “Ephpheta Paul VI” will be celebrated. A mass presided by the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Msgr. Fouad Twal, will be followed by the inauguration of a new area in glass and mosaic at the Institute.

This area was created during an artistic workshop carried out by the Mosaic Center of Jerusalem as part of the project “Supporting emergency education in the Palestinian Autonomous Territories”, a project supported by the AVSI Foundation in collaboration with ATS pro Terra Sancta.

The workshop was made up by a group of students who, with the aid of their teachers, began by first learning about the materials and the methods in which they can be used, and then proceeded to undertake small pieces of work: from simple ceramic jars, to true and proper pieces of mosaic. At the end of the course the students were able to work on pieces of mosaic: to design their form, choose the colors, cut stones using ancient techniques and traditional tools, prepare mixtures of cement, set the tiles and, finally, clean the pieces.

The area to be inaugurated during these festivities is thus the product of this workshop, and of the work and commitment of the youngsters of the Ephpheta Institute along with their collaborators from the Mosaic Center of Jericho.