Newsletter — April 2018

Dear friends,

The conference on the interactions between Shiites and Christians organized in Paris was a great moment in the life of the Institute. Even if the lectures were highly technical, they captured everyone’s interest by overlapping and allowing exciting and accessible discussions for all present. This is exactly the aim of research: to go down into specifics that may seem too detailed, then to touch the universal and link the questions of our contemporaries to the subjects of the day, yet with a historical and critical depth that is not possible with a generalist approach.

Thanks to all the speakers and to you all for your participation and support!

Conference

On April 11th, 12th and 13, Emmanuel Pisani, OP, Dennis Halft, OP and Amir Jajé, OP organized, in partnership with ISTR in Paris (Institute of Science and Theology of Religions) and GRIEM (Interdisciplinary Research Group on Missionary Writings), a conference sponsored by the associations “Friends of IDEO” and the “Œuvre d’Orient”, on the interaction between Twelver Shiites and Christians. Read the report here…

IDEO Seminar

On April 30th, Ms. Noëmie Lucas, PhD candidate at Paris Panthéon-Sorbonne University, led a seminar session entitled “Use of Poetry: From the Political to the Historiographical”, based on an episode told by al-Balāḏurī (d. 279/892?) in his book Ansāb al-ašrāf, the construction of the al-Mubārak channel by the Governor of Iraq « b. ʿAbd Allāh Allāh al-Qasrī (d. 126/743). Read the report…

Lectures

On April 5th, Jean Druel, OP gave a lecture on AlKindi, IDEO’s cataloguing system, to researchers at the Academic Journals Observatory, which depends directly on the Sheikh of al-Azhar.

On April 6th, Emmanuel Pisani, OP, with Mr. Christian Lochon and Bishop Pascal Gollnisch, participated in the Diocesan Day of Formation for Catholic Teaching in Toulon where he gave two lectures entitled: “Dialogue and Proclamation in the Thought of Benedict XVI” and “Diversity in Islam”.

On April 9th and 10th, Emilio Platti, OP and Adrien Candiard, OP participated in the interreligious theological working group of SNRM (National Service of the Bishops of France for Relations with Muslims).

On April 15th, Emmanuel Pisani, OP led a morning of studies on interreligious dialogue at the diocesan center in Bondy, as part of the formation days of the Diocese of Saint-Denis.

On April 23th, Rémi Chéno, OP moderated one of the sessions of the day organized by Ms. Naïma Bouras and the CEDEJ at the French Institute of Egypt in Cairo, entitled: “Feminine Religious Dynamics in Egypt: What Forms of Engagement?”.

On April 25th, Guillaume de Vaulx organized a seminar at the French Institute of the Near East in Beirut entitled “The Mirrors of Medieval Princes: Between the Art of Governing and the Art of Submission”. He also gave a lecture at the seminar, entitled “Abbasid Fables: From Being Mirrors of Princes to being Mirrors of the People”.

On April 23rd, Amir Jajé, OP gave a lecture entitled “The Philosophy of the Hussein Revolt” at the international conference “Spring of Martyrdom” in Karbala (Iraq)

From April 26‒28th, Amir Jajé, OP gave a lecture entitled “Migration (Emigration and Immigration) and Conversion as a Challenge of Theological Teaching: the Situation in the Near East”, at a conference on theological teaching in the Near East at Holy Spirit University of Kaslik in Lebanon.

Award

On April 3rd, the Faculty of Arts of Cairo University awarded to Giuseppe Scattolin, MCCJ the emblem of the Faculty in recognition of his contribution to the renewal of Sufi studies through his numerous scientific works.

Interreligious Dialogue

On April 14th, Amir Jajé, OP organized a Muslim-Christian meeting around the Virgin Mary at the Dominican Priory of the Annunciation in Paris. This meeting was an opportunity for Christians and Muslims of different persuasions to pray together.

Study trip

From April 15‒20th, Emmanuel Pisani, OP accompanied the ISTR study trip from Paris to Rabat and Casablanca.

Visits

From March 29th to April 9th, we received the visit of Adrien de Fouchier, OP who is works at the Vatican Library, and is writing a catalogue of Christian Arabic manuscripts.

On April 2nd, we welcomed Mr. Georges Fahmi, researcher at the European Academic Institute in Florence, who works on the rapprochement between al-Azhar and the Vatican in recent years.

On April 16th, we welcomed for lunch Mrs. Éléonor Fallot, coordinator of the CCFD (Catholic Committee for Hunger and Development) for the region.

On April 16th, we also welcomed for lunch Mrs. Sylvie Nony, researcher in the history of Arabic sciences, who is currently working on the persistence of the idea that some people really believed that the earth was flat.

From April 18‒25th, we received Mr. Dominique Avon, researcher in History, who is currently working on the history of the freedom of conscience in Islam.

On April 25th, we welcomed for lunch Mr. Michael Driessen, Professor of Political Sciences at John Cabot University in Rome, who works on the geopolitics of interreligious dialogue.

Scholars’ House

In April, we had the pleasure of receiving at the Scholars’ House Ms. Noëmie Lucas, PhD candidate at Paris Panthéon-Sorbonne University, Mr. Olivier Rampnoux, professor at the University of Poitiers, and Mr. Sami Benkherfallah, PhD student in history and archaeology at the University of Poitiers.

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