A study day at the Catholic University of Lyon

On 7 October 2022, a study day was held at the Catholic University of Lyon, dedicated to two leading figures in Islamic-Christian dialogue: Father Maurice Borrmans, MAfr (1925-2017), for many years a lecturer at PISAI and editor of the journal Islamochristiana, and the Tunisian historian Mohamed Talbi (1921-2017). Both respectively embodied the openness of the Catholic and Muslim worlds to dialogue between these two religions in the decades following the Second Vatican Council. The aim of the day was to delve into the thought that these two pioneers left behind, examining not only their theoretical contribution but also their concrete testimony of dialogue.

Among the speakers was Antonio Navarro Carmona, lecturer and vice-director of the ‘Sagrado Corazón’ Faculty of Córdoba and former PISAI student, who sought to investigate the causes that led Talbi to become a detractor of Islamic-Christian dialogue after having been one of its great supporters. In addition, Rémi Caucanas, research associate at IREMAM and PISAI, offered an address entitled “Talbi-Borrmans: a lost golden age of Christian-Muslim dialogue?”