''Al Bashir'' (

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walte ...

: ''The Messenger'') was a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

magazine published in

Beirut, Lebanon Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint of ...

, by Jesuit. It was published triweekly from 1870 and 1947 and supported the Catholic religious cause in the region.

History and profile

It was launched by Ambroise Monnot, S.J. in Beirut with the name ''Concile du Vatican'' in 1870 as an eight-page weekly Arabic publication. The founding objective was to protect the Vatican Council (1869–1870) from the harsh criticisms exerted by the

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

journals published in Beirut. In 1871 the publication was renamed as ''Al Bashir'' and became a comprehensive journal. In the early period the editor was Father

Louis Cheikho Louis Cheikho, ar, لويس شيخو, born Rizqallâh Cheikho (1859–1927) was a Jesuit Chaldean Catholic priest, Orientalist and Theologian. He pioneered Eastern Christian and Assyrian Chaldean literary research and made major contributions ...

who later founded and edited another Jesuit magazine, '' Al Machriq''. ''Al Bashir'' was a supporter of the Decentralization Party. The rival of ''Al Bashir'' was '' Al Muqtataf'', and there were frequent hot debates between them concerning various topics. One of these debates took place in 1883 when ''Al Muqtataf'' published articles about the

evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...

-related views developed by

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...

. The most serious attacks came from the editor of ''Al Bashir'', Cheikho, who argued that Darwin's ideas were totally absurd. The editors of ''Al Muqtataf'' who were Protestants were accused of being

atheists Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

by ''Al Bashir''. The accusations of the editors and contributors of two journals lasted until 1884, and the incident became known not only in the region but also in Europe. The problem was solved the same year only through the intervention of the Ottomans who asked the editors through the Directorate of Foreign Affairs and Publications in Beirut to stop accusing each other if they did not want to be subject to the bans or penalty. Partly due to this event the journal was censored by the Ottoman in

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth ( Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...

. In 1888 the journal was given a certificate of honor and a silver medal from the Roman jubilee committee of

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII ( it, Leone XIII; born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2 March 1810 – 20 July 1903) was the head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 to his death in July 1903. Living until the age of 93, he was the second-old ...

. A Belgian-born Jesuit and Orientalist

Henri Lammens Henri Lammens (1 Jul 1862 – 23 Apr 1937) was a Belgian Orientalist historian and Jesuit, who wrote (in French) on the early history of Islam. Education and career as a Jesuit Born in Ghent, Belgium of Catholic Flemish stock, Henri Lammens j ...

was one of the editors, and Philippe Cuche, an Arabic writer, was among the contributors and directors of the journal. Lammens served in the post twice, briefly in 1894 and then from 1900 to 1903. ''Al Bashir'' ceased publication in 1914. The paper reemerged in 1924 and was again published by the Jesuit under the editorship of Lahad Khater. ''Al Bashir'' was in circulation until 1947 when it was permanently closed.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bashir 1870 establishments in Ottoman Syria 1914 disestablishments in the Ottoman Empire Arabic-language magazines Catholic magazines Catholicism in Beirut Defunct magazines published in Lebanon Jesuit publications Lebanese Jesuits Magazines established in 1870 Magazines established in 1924 Magazines disestablished in 1914 Magazines disestablished in 1947 Magazines published in Beirut