Tunisia plans celebrations for 1650th anniversary of St Augustine

The Archdiocese of Tunisia is organizing celebrations next month, to mark the 1650th anniversary of the birth of St Augustine of Hippo. The relics of St Augustine have already arrived in Rome, Italy, where they will be for a week. Augustine was born at Tagaste on November 13, 354. Tagaste is now Souk-Ahras, and is situated not far from Bona (ancient Hippo-Regius). The theme of the event prepared by the Archdiocese of Tunisia is St Augustine: His African Roots and Universality. The exposition will be set up at the Acropolis of Carthage. It was prepared by the University of Fribourg, under the patronage of the Tunisian Office of Culture, and will be inaugurated on December 15, remaining open to the public until January 10, 2005. In Rome, St Augustine's reliquary was received by Cardinal Saraiva Martins, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints. The week had a number of celebrations scheduled, with conferences, shows and cultural initiatives, to illustrate the personality of Augustine -the man, philosopher, pastor and theologian. "Augustine", explains Fr Pietro Bellini, the Augustinian Provincial of Italy, "I believe, presents us with a message of humanity and a message of fidelity to Christ and then a message of fidelity to the Church. I believe that if we succeed in understanding some of the things of his reality, of Augustine's message, we will have understood a great deal." Source: Catholic Information Service Africa