Gonzalo Villagrán
Born in Spain in 1975, Gonzalo Villagrán Medina is a Catholic priest of the Society of Jesus and professor of Christian social ethics at Universidad Loyola (Andalusia). Since July 2025, he has served as socius (assistant) to the President of the Conference of European Jesuit Provincials (JCEP) and as treasurer of the Conference, in Brussels; he is also deputy delegate of UNIJES (the Spanish Jesuit higher-education network) and a member of the council of the Kircher Network, which connects Jesuit higher-education institutions across Europe and the Near East.
He served as dean of the Faculty of Theology of Universidad Loyola, in Granada, overseeing its integration into the university. He holds a Doctorate in Sacred Theology (STD) from Boston College (2012), a canonical licentiate in theology from the Centre Sèvres, Jesuit Faculties of Paris (2009), and a canonical bachelor’s degree in theology from the Faculty of Theology of Granada (2007); he completed the pre-theology philosophy cycle at Comillas Pontifical University and studied business administration at the University of Seville (1998).
A specialist in public theology and Christian social thought, his work focuses on the public presence of the Church in plural societies and on Christian-Muslim dialogue applied to social issues. He coordinates the Christian-Muslim cluster of the international HEST programme (the network of Jesuit higher-education institutions in Europe) and collaborates with the Andalusian Chair for the Dialogue of Religions (CANDIR).
Resources of this researcher
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article
In search of a comparative Christian social thought. A methodological proposal
- Gonzalo Villagrán
The article “In search of a comparative Christian social thought” aims to propose a methodology for developing a comparative Christian social thought. To do this, it explores two source...
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videos
A comparative approach to the concepts of the common good and “maslaha”
- Gonzalo Villagrán
Conference of Gonzalo VILLAGRAN, at the Second International Congress of PLURIEL in ROME Abstract Recently, Afifi Al-Akiti and Joshua Horden proposed the development of a new field of study called ...
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videos
Presentation of the congress “Islam and Belonging” of PLURIEL
- Michel Younès
- Gonzalo Villagrán
- Marco Demichelis
- Emmanuel Pisani
- Michaela Quast-Neulinger
- Mohamed-Ali Mostfa
- Tobias Specker
With the voices of members of the Scientific Comittee
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article
Being a Muslim in a Jesuit college
- Gonzalo Villagrán
Original title : “Ser musulmán en un colegio jesuita” Paper by Lea FIEDLER, under the direction of Gonzalo VILLAGRÁN Abstract This article presents the process and the results of an inv...
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publication
Transformative Conversations. A methodology for Christian-Muslim dialogue in the field of religious social thought
- Gonzalo Villagrán
In this book, Prof. Villagran proposes to enter the debate on comparative theology, a trend proposed by the American theologian Frank Clooney, to show its possibilities as a theological methodology...
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article
Bridges between the Jesuit Migrant Service and Jesuit Higher Education Centers for Interreligious Dialogue with Islam
- Josep Buades
- Gonzalo Villagrán
Original title : “Puentes entre el Servicio Jesuita a Migrantes y los centros jesuitas de educación superior para el diálogo interreligioso con el Islam” In Spain, opportunities for int...
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article
Islam’s integration in Spain
- Gonzalo Villagrán
- SÁNCHEZ-NOGALES Jose Luis
Summary: Muslim presence in Spain is much more recent than in other European countries so at times it is not clear if there is a real integration model in this country. Nevertheless, looking at the...
Resources related to
Ethics
videos
“War and peace”, by Adrien Candiard
On Wednesday 20 May 2026, the Dominican Institute for Oriental Studies (IDEO) hosted in Cairo a lecture by Brother Adrien Candiard, Dominican and Islamologist, on the theme "War and peace". Faced w...
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...
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...
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...
videos
“Welcome to Hell”: eschatology in the literary work of Dževad Karahasan
Paper presented at the fifth international congress of the University Platform for Research on Islam (Pluriel), held in Cordoba from 10 to 14 February 2026 on the theme "Ethics and Aesthetics in Is...
videos
Hospitality, power and interreligious dialogue in Naguib Mahfouz’s “Children of the Alley”
- Gabriel Khairallah
Paper presented at the fifth international congress of the University Platform for Research on Islam (Pluriel), held in Cordoba from 10 to 14 February 2026 on the theme "Ethics and Aesthetics in Is...
videos
Landscape and architecture as occasions of contemplation and of interreligious dialogue in the travel narratives of the Sufi ʿAbd al-Ghanī al-Nābulusī
Paper presented at the fifth international congress of the University Platform for Research on Islam (Pluriel), held in Cordoba from 10 to 14 February 2026 on the theme "Ethics and Aesthetics in Is...
videos
Spiritual eroticism and erotic spirituality in Sufi mystical thought
Paper presented at the 5th international congress of the University Platform for Research on Islam (Pluriel), held in Cordoba from 10 to 14 February 2026 on the theme "Ethics and Aesthetics in Isla...