Jean-Claude Basset
Born in 1950 in Switzerland, Jean-Claude Basset is a retired pastor of the Protestant Church of Geneva and a theologian specialising in interreligious dialogue. He studied in Lausanne, Strasbourg, Bangalore (India) and Harvard (United States).
A missionary pastor in Tehran and then Djibouti, he later served in Geneva, notably in the parishes of Châtelaine and Cointrin-Avanchets, and directed the Protestant Centre for Studies of Geneva. In 1989 he defended at the University of Lausanne a doctoral thesis in theology, published as Le dialogue interreligieux. Chance ou déchéance de la foi ? (Cerf, 1996), regarded as a French-language reference in the field.
Co-founder in 1992 of the Geneva Interreligious Platform, of which he remains a leading figure, he also taught religious studies and Islamic studies at the Protestant Faculty of Theology of the University of Lausanne. His other works include Couples islamo-chrétiens. Promesse ou impasse ? (1990), Panorama des religions (2004) and Chrétiens et diversité religieuse (2011).
He is a member of the “Christian Theology and Dialogues” and “Religions and Societies” groups of the Master’s programme of the Al Mowafaqa Ecumenical Institute of Theology (IOTAM, Rabat).
Resources related to
Muslim-Christian Dialogue
article
Kenneth Cragg and the Event of the Qur’an
- Timo Güzelmansur
Article by Timo Güzelmansur published under the title Kenneth Cragg und das Ereignis des Koran on the theological portal feinschwarz.net (12 June 2026, open access). Timo Güzelmansur presents the A...
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...
videos
From Lavigerie to PISAI: The Institutional History of the Missionaries of Africa’s Engagement with Islam
Delivered on 21 May 2026 at the Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies (PISAI) in Rome, this lecture opens the series of conferences marking the institute's centenary (1926-2026). Fr. ...
videos
Interreligious Dialogue and Ethnic Nationalisms in the Balkans
At the invitation of PISAI (Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies, Rome) and Georgetown University, Ahmet Alibašić, professor of Islamic civilization at the Faculty of Islamic Studies...
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 ̶...
publication
Intercultural Theology
- Jean Patrick Nkolo Fanga
Because every theology is culturally situated, Christian theology is inevitably multicultural. Yet one step remains to be taken: to become intercultural. Crossing languages, contexts, origins, ages...
article
Bells and Muezzin in Harmony: Dialogue with Islam as a Spiritual Responsibility
- Timo Güzelmansur
Article by Timo Güzelmansur published under the title Glocken und Muezzin im Einklang. Der Dialog mit dem Islam als geistliche Verantwortung in Herder Korrespondenz (special issue devoted to Pope L...