Ratisbonne Monastery

Work on the building, designed by the French architect M. Daumat, began in 1874 on a barren hill, now in the center of West Jerusalem.

In 1843, together with his older brother Marie-Theodore, himself also a convert to Catholicism, Marie-Alphonse Ratisbonne founded the Congregation of Our Lady of Sion.

The house was dedicated to the service of the local population, and was animated by a spirit that was open to all: Jews and Arabs, both Christian and Muslim.

A number of structures were put up in the courtyard: store-rooms, a cowshed, a stable, a pigsty, a chicken coop, a laundry, as well as living quarters for the housekeeper, gatekeeper and gardener.

In May 1948, the monastery opened its gates to women and children evacuated from Gush Etzion before they were moved to Kibbutz Ma'ale HaHamisha.

[7] Both because of its location and because of the historical services rendered by the Monastery, it was chosen without hesitation by both parties as the site for the negotiations between the Holy See and the State of Israel, leading to the accord signed in 1993.

[8] The present Director's Office is the room where the negotiations actually took place, as a photo (dated 1994) preserved there bears witness.

In order to ensure permanence and growth, in 1984 the Congregation of the Religious of Our Lady of Sion requested and obtained the intervention of the Holy See which became the holder of the property.

Andre di Montezemolo, apostolic nuncio in Israel, was asked by the Holy See to supervise the elaboration of the definitive structure of the Institute on the juridical, academic and economic levels.

[9] The Institute took its inspiration from the teaching of the Second Vatican Council, which in Nostra aetate n. 4 affirms: given such a great spiritual patrimony common to Christians and Jews, the Council wants to encourage and recommend mutual esteem and knowledge, born of biblical and theological studies as well as from fraternal dialogue.

The Institute therefore wanted to provide to Catholics and other Christians the possibility of knowing and studying the religious tradition of Israel, its sources (prayer, commentaries on Scripture, midrash, mishnah, Talmud, history, etc.

[12] The Centre was transferred to the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, and incorporated with the Centro Cardinal Bea per gli Studi Giudaici.

The study centre was set up as the Studium Theologicum Salesianum (STS) "Saints Peter and Paul" and affiliated to the Salesian Pontifical University, Rome in 2004.