ROME, JAN. 23, 2001 (ZENIT.org).- An ancient giant of the Church is coming to Internet.
On the 1,600th anniversary of St. Augustine´s «Confessions,» the Augustinians have inaugurated an Internet site which makes available, in Italian and Latin for now, the complete works of the bishop of Hippo, as well as an extensive bibliography on the saint.
Jean Guitton, the distinguished 20th century French intellectual, pointed out that, if the Christian community had not been given the gift of an Augustine in the period of the Fathers of the Church, and of a Paul during the early days of the Church, the course of Western history would have been different.
St. Augustine´s philosophical, theological and literary work is a legacy that has kept the Augustinian Fathers busy in the publication of the saint´s complete works, in cooperation with the Città Nuova publishing house.
The purpose of the new site ( http://www.augustinus.it/ ) is to make known not only the saint´s multifaceted figure, but his entire personality. The seriousness of the work is guaranteed by the experience and qualifications of the translators, the Fathers of the monastery of St. Nicholas of Tolentino, among whom are Father Agostino Trape and Father Domenico Gentili. The site is managed by Father Franco Monteverde.
The site begins by presenting the objectives of the program: to publish the complete works; to recount St. Augustine´s life through the work of Possidio, his first biographer; to learn more about him through works that analyze his person and work.
In the near future there will be a series of texts divided by subjects or keys to readings.
The page is still being constructed but already offers the possibility of consulting four fundamental works in their entirety, in Italian: «Le Confessioni,» «La Trinità,» «La Città di Dio,» and «Le Ritrattazioni.»
