EVENT HIGHLIGHTS
Father Thomas Michel, S.J., who served as the director of Islamic Office of the Vatican’s Council for Interreligious Dialogue for 13 years and has published extensively on modern Muslim thinkers such as Said Nursi and Fethullah Gülen*, will talk about “Dialogue Among Faith Communities for a Better Future: Dialogue Narratives of Pope Francis and Fethullah Gulen.”
Refreshments will be provided!
Please join us at 12pm on Sunday, August 9th, 2015 and RSVP by August 4th, 2015 at [email protected]
Date
Sunday, August 9th, 2015
12:00 PM
Venue
St. Francis Xavier (College) Church Ballroom
3628 Lindell Blvd, St. Louis, MO 63108
(on the corner of Grand and Lindell)
*** The Ballroom is located on the basement floor of the church and can be accessed on the south side of the building off Grand (left side if you’re looking at the front of the church), down the stairs or ramp. Free parking is available at meters on Lindell (free on Sundays) or in the Laclede parking garage, off of Laclede and Grand. Here is a map showing the Laclede lot for your reference: https://www.slu.edu/Documents/facilities/SLU-Parking-Map-Frost-Campus.pdf
Father Thomas Michel, S.J., who served as the director of Islamic Office of the Vatican’s Council for Interreligious Dialogue for 13 years, will talk about “Dialogue Among Faith Communities for a Better Future: Dialogue Narratives of Pope Francis and Fethullah Gulen.”
Fr. Michel, who spent most of his career teaching Christianity at Muslim universities and Islam at Christian universities, was born in St. Louis, MO, in 1941, ordained a Catholic priest in 1967, and took vows as a Jesuit in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, in 1969. After studying Arabic in Egypt and Lebanon, he received a doctorate in Islamic thought from the University of Chicago . After a year teaching at Columbia University in New York, he taught Islamic studies at Sanata Dharma University in Indonesia as well as Christian theology in Islamic theological institutes.
In 1981-1994, Fr. Michel worked in the Vatican as Head of the Office for relations with Muslims. During this time he spent four years teaching Christian theology in Turkish universities. In 1994-2008, Fr. Michel served in Bangkok as Secretary for Inter-religious Affairs for the Catholic bishops of Asia and as Jesuit Secretary for Interreligious Dialogue in Rome. Until recently, he was living in Turkey and has published extensively on modern Muslim thinkers such as Said Nursi and Fethullah Gülen.
He is currently on the staff of Georgetown University as Senior Fellow of the Woodstock Theological Center and Senior Fellow of the Alwaleed Center for Muslim – Christian Understanding.
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