Michel Younès
Born in 1973 in Lebanon, Michel Younès is general coordinator of Pluriel, Dean of the Faculty of Theology at the Catholic University of Lyon (UCLy) since September 2023, and Professor of Theology and Islamic Studies. He has led the Centre for the Study of Cultures and Religions (CECR) since 2006.
A Christian theologian of Islam, his scholarship lies at the crossroads of Islamic studies and Muslim–Christian dialogue — a commitment he also carries as the Diocese of Lyon’s episcopal delegate for relations with Muslims. In January 2026, Pope Leo XIV appointed him consultor to the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue.
He holds doctorates in theology and philosophy from UCLy (2005), with a dissertation titled Révélation(s) et Parole(s). Interrogations sur le système du kalâm comme médiation entre judaïsme, christianisme et islam. He earned his habilitation to supervise research (HDR) at the École pratique des hautes études in 2020 for a study of Christian approaches to Islam, and received the Nihil Obstat in Catholic theology in 2013.
His books include Les approches chrétiennes de l’islam (Cerf, 2020), Être soi par l’autre. Comment j’ai grandi dans un contexte de diversité (2023) and Pour une théologie chrétienne des religions (2012).
Since 2020 he has also served as deputy director of UCLy’s CONFLUENCE Sciences & Humanities Research Unit. He co-directed the university diploma “Religion, Religious Freedom and Secularism” from 2013 to 2019 and convenes the seminar “Religions and Enterprises”. A fellow of the International Academy of Religious Sciences since 2010, he was awarded the Palmes Académiques in 2016.
Resources of this researcher
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publication
For a Christian Theology of Religions
- Michel Younès
Faced with contemporary religious diversity, how can Christian theology make sense of the place that other religions occupy in God’s design? Michel Younès examines the three traditional ̶...
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publication
Comparative Theology as a Vehicle for a New Approach to Religious Diversity?
- Michel Younès
Published in the special issue “Islam and Interreligious Dialogue” of the journal Laval théologique et philosophique (vol. 82, no. 1, 2026, pp. 7-25), this article by Michel Younès, general coordin...
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videos
Opening address of the Cordoba congress
- Michel Younès
On Tuesday 10 February 2026 in Cordoba, Michel Younès, general coordinator of Pluriel and dean of the Faculty of Theology of the Catholic University of Lyon (UCLy), delivered the opening address of...
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publication
Islam and Muslims. Doctrines, Schools of Thought, and Current Trends
- Michel Younès
Publication date: April 16, 2026. Islam, as a historical, religious, and civilizational reality, is difficult to define. It can be perceived as a form of political governance, an expression of fait...
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videos
Christian Thought, Muslim Thought and Societal Issues: Launch of the “Theologies in Dialogue” Chair
- Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi
- Michel Younès
On Wednesday, September 25, 2024, this inaugural conference presents a new chair entitled “Theologies in Dialogue” at the Faculty of Theology of the Catholic University of Lyon. The spe...
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Revival and Dynamics of Islamic Studies in Europe
- Michel Younès
- Emmanuel Pisani
- Cédric Baylocq
- Zohra Aziadé Zemirli
- Michele Brignone
- Haoues Seniguer
“In a troubled international context where Islam is sometimes defined as an ideological marker of many conflicts, academic research drawing on history, sociology, and political science has mu...
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Islamochristiana Journal 49 (2024): “Maurice Borrmans and Mohamed Talbi: From Friendship to Rupture”
- David Marshall
- Diego Sarrió Cucarella
- Rémi Caucanas
- Michel Younès
- Geneviève Gobillot
- Florence Javel
- Yosra Garmi
- Tobias Specker
The title of this issue, “Maurice Borrmans and Mohamed Talbi: From Friendship to Rupture,” was suggested to us by a collection of articles that highlight different aspects of the relati...
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videos
Online Symposium: Islamic Origins & Christian Theological Engagement with Islam
- Diego Sarrió Cucarella
- Gabriel Said Reynolds
- Michel Younès
- David Marshall
Panelists David Marshall, University of Bern (Moderator), Guest Editor of Islamochristiana Martin Accad, Arab Baptist Theological Seminary Daniel Brown, ISRME Diego Sarrio Cucarella, PISAI Sandra K...
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videos
Opening speech of the fourth congress in Abu Dhabi, Michel Younès
- Michel Younès
At the opening of the fourth congress of the University Platform for Research on Islam Pluriel, which celebrates its tenth anniversary, Michel Younès expressed his pride in the advances made in ter...
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publication
Religions put to the test by freedom of expression
- Michel Younès
- Mohamed-Ali Mostfa
- Malek Chaïeb
“In the republican context, freedom of expression involves all the players in society and mobilises a wide range of intellectual resources. What then are the conditions that foster it while r...
Resources related to
Theology of Religions
article
Islamic Visions of Jesus: Revelation, Prophecy, and Eschatology
- Antonio Cuciniello
Abstract Published in the collective volume Jerusalem in Memory and Eschatology: Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Visions of the Past and Future of Jerusalem, edited by Emma O'Donnell Polyakov (Blo...
article
Questions on Islamic Soteriology in Early Islam
- Jaume Flaquer Garcia
Abstract Published under the original title "Cuestiones sobre la soteriología islámica en el islam primitivo" in the collective volume Riesgos y fidelidades. Miradas teológicas para un mundo plu...
article
The Uncreated Muslim Qur’an and the Eternally Begotten Christian Logos
- Jaume Flaquer Garcia
Abstract Published under the original title "El Corán musulmán increado y el Logos cristiano eternamente engendrado" in the monographic section Logos, Agape, Sarx. Una dialógica cristiana of iss...
article
The First Council of Nicaea (325) and the Christian-Muslim Dialogue on God’s Unity and Trinity
- Dirk Ansorge
Abstract Published under the original title "Das erste Konzil von Nizäa (325) und der christlich-muslimische Dialog über Gottes Einheit und Dreifaltigkeit" in issue 2/2025 of CIBEDO-Beiträge, th...
article
Christian-Muslim Relations Today: Some Reflections
- David Marshall
Abstract Published as "Christian-Muslim Relations Today: Some Reflections" in a special issue of The Muslim World marking the 50th anniversary of the Duncan Black Macdonald Center (Hartford), th...
publication
Islamic Lessons for Christians
- Gabriel Said Reynolds
Islamic Lessons for Christians (Oneworld Publications, 2026) is the latest book by Gabriel Said Reynolds, Crowley Professor of Islamic Studies and Theology at the University of Notre Dame. What, if...
article
Leo XIV’s encyclical Magnifica Humanitas and the Pluriel working group on AI-assisted interreligious dialogue
- Wael Saleh
Text by Wael Saleh, researcher at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) and member of the Pluriel coordination committee. The simultaneous appearance of Leo XIV's encyclical Magnifica Human...
publication
The Recognition of a Hummingbird. Essays on Interreligious Dialogue and Missionary Work (2007-2025)
- Rémi Caucanas
Published in May 2026 by PISAI (Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies, Rome), this collection brings together the essays of Rémi Caucanas on interreligious dialogue and missionary wor...