Valentino Cottini
Born in Italy in 1951, Valentino Cottini is a diocesan priest of Verona (since 1975) and a canon of Verona Cathedral. An Islamologist, he was full professor, director of the journal Islamochristiana and, from 2012 to 2018, dean of the Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies (PISAI) in Rome, from which he has now retired (since 2021).
He obtained his licentiate and doctorate in theology with a biblical specialisation at the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum in Jerusalem (1982), and subsequently the licentiate in Arabic and Islamic studies at PISAI (1997). He was also a visiting professor of Islamic studies at the Pontifical Urbaniana University and at the Alphonsian Academy in Rome.
His research interests focus on the study of the Bible, the Qur’an and Christian-Muslim relations.
Resources of this researcher
-
article
“Schede per conoscere l’Islam”: a CEI-PISAI Tool Coordinated by Valentino Cottini
- Valentino Cottini
Presented on 10 November 2025 at the Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies (PISAI) in Rome, the volume Schede per conoscere l’Islam (“Factsheets to Know Islam”) is a project of ...
-
article
“Fifty Years of Islamochristiana”, by Valentino Cottini
- Valentino Cottini
For the fiftieth anniversary of the journal Islamochristiana, published by PISAI and devoted to relations between Christians and Muslims, Valentino Cottini, Islamologist and former director of the ...
-
publication
Islamochristiana 44 – In memory of Maurice Borrmans
- Valentino Cottini
Issue number 44 of Islamochristiana is entirely dedicated to Maurice Borrmans, MAfr, who, together with the PISAI staff, founded the journal in 1975 and remained its editor almost interruptedly unt...
-
videos
The document on human fraternity: a new horizon for Islamic-Christian dialogue? (Italian)
- Adnane Mokrani
- Laurent Basanese
- Valentino Cottini
Lecturers : Adnane Mokrani, P. Laurent Basanese S.J. Moderator: Valentino Cottini Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome, April 8th, 2019 This conference marks the launch of the research grou...
-
videos
Congress “Islam and Membership”: welcome words
- Valentino Cottini
Rector of the Gregorian University / P. Nuno da Silva Gonçalves President of the PISAI / Valentino Cottini PLURIEL Coordinator / Michel Younès
-
publication
Islamochristiana N°42 : Mercy
- Valentino Cottini
The year 2016 will be remembered in the history of the Catholic Church as the “Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy”. We know that mercy is at the heart of both Christianity and Islam. For this reason, P...
-
article
The Lies of Abraham
- Valentino Cottini
Original title : “Le menzogne di Abramo” Even Abraham, the first of Israel’s patriarchs and one of Islam’s prophets, lied. The peculiar account of his lie, concerning his wi...
-
article
Faith and hermeneutics : introduction
- Valentino Cottini
First lines of the introduction “This first contribution is not a study per se. It presents itself only as an introduction to the monographic section of this issue of Islamochristiana devoted...
Resources related to
Quranic Studies
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...
publication
The Event of the Qur’an: Islam in its Scripture
- Timo Güzelmansur
Published as Das Ereignis des Koran. Der Islam in seiner Schrift (Regensburg: Verlag Friedrich Pustet, 2026), this volume is the first German translation of the classic work by the Anglican Islamic...
publication
A Theology of Violence: An Analysis of Selected Surahs from the Qur’an
- Hamideh Mohagheghi
Published as Theologie der Gewalt. Eine Analyse ausgewählter Suren aus dem Koran (Münster: Waxmann, 2026), this book by Hamideh Mohagheghi is the published version of her doctoral thesis (defended ...
publication
Theology of Prophecy in Dialogue: A Jewish-Christian-Muslim Encounter
- Klaus von Stosch
- Zishan Ahmad Ghaffar
Edited by Zishan Ghaffar (University of Paderborn) and Klaus von Stosch, professor of systematic theology at the University of Bonn and member of the coordination committee of Pluriel, this collect...
article
The Genre of the Mawlid Narrative in the mid-12th h./18th Century as Exemplified by al-Barzanjī
- Antonio Cuciniello
Among the works of Arabic literature concerning the genre of Mawlid, certainly al-Barzanjī’s Mawlid is a text that has achieved great popularity and spread to large parts of the Islamic world. Inde...
videos
The History of the Quran according to Muslim Sources
- Gabriel Said Reynolds
Professors Shady Nasser from Harvard and Gabriel Reynolds from the University of Notre Dame explore the history of the revelation and compilation of the Quran according to traditional Muslim source...
videos
Jesus in Recent Qur’an Translations | The Jesus of the Qur’an vs. the Jesus of the New Testament
- Gabriel Said Reynolds
In this video, Gabriel Said Reynolds discusses the presentation of Jesus in the Qur'an and how it is interpreted and rendered in English by recent translations of the Qur'an. I show that recent tra...
publication
Islam and Scientific Examination: A Renewed Quest
- Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi
- Dominique Avon
“How can we establish an objective, rigorous, and detached study of Islam in the face of the excesses generated by its politicization? It is to answer this burning question that the French In...