Publisher : Éditions du Cerf -
French
Maurice Borrmans and the Crisis of Christian-Muslim Dialogue. Islamic studies in Question?
In 2025-2026, we mark the sixtieth anniversary of the Second Vatican Council and of the declaration Nostra aetate (28 October 1965). One century earlier, in October 1925, Maurice Borrmans was born in Lille; he would later become a White Father and a leading figure in Muslim-Christian dialogue. This study traces the convergence between that ecclesial event, which opened a new era in interreligious relations, and the path of the Islamologist who devoted his life to dialogue until his death in 2017.
Through his writings, the voice emerges of a practitioner attentive to the actors of rapprochement, to their methods, advances and difficulties. In a context marked by the rise of Islamism, Father Borrmans appears as a resolute defender of a demanding and clear-sighted dialogue. Both historical and theological, this study offers a re-reading of sixty years of Muslim-Christian relations through the prism of his thought.
Exchanges between Christians and Muslims appear here as a living process that must be constantly revisited in order to continue bearing fruit today.
Florence Javel, who holds a PhD in theology from the Catholic University of Lyon (UCLy), defended this thesis in April 2025 under the supervision of Michel Younes.
En 2025-2026, nous célébrons les soixante ans du concile Vatican II et de la déclaration Nostra aetate (28 octobre 1965). Un siècle plus tôt, en octobre 1925, naissait à Lille Maurice Borrmans, futur Père Blanc et grande figure du dialogue islamo-chrétien. L’étude menée ici met en lumière la convergence entre cet événement ecclésial, qui ouvre une ère nouvelle dans les relations entre religions, et la trajectoire de cet islamologue qui consacra sa vie au dialogue jusqu’à sa mort en 2017.
À travers ses écrits, se dessine la voix d’un praticien attentif aux acteurs du rapprochement, à leurs méthodes, leurs avancées et leurs difficultés. Dans un contexte marqué par la montée de l’islamisme, le père Borrmans apparaît comme un défenseur résolu d’un dialogue exigeant et lucide. Cette étude, à la fois historique et théologique, offre une relecture de soixante ans de relations islamo-chrétiennes, sous le prisme de sa pensée.
Les échanges entre chrétiens et musulmans y apparaissent comme un processus vivant, qui demande d’être sans cesse revisité pour continuer de porter du fruit aujourd’hui.
Florence Javel, docteure en théologie de l’Université catholique de Lyon (UCLy), a soutenu en avril 2025 cette thèse préparée sous la direction de Michel Younès.
في السنة الجامعية 2025-2026، نُحيي الذكرى الستين لانعقاد المجمع الفاتيكاني الثاني وصدور إعلان في عصرنا (Nostra aetate، 28 تشرين الأول/أكتوبر 1965). قبل ذلك بقرن من الزمن، في تشرين الأول/أكتوبر 1925، وُلد في مدينة ليل بفرنسا موريس بورمانس، الذي سيصبح لاحقاً أحد «الآباء البيض» وأحد كبار رواد الحوار الإسلامي-المسيحي. تُسلّط هذه الدراسة الضوء على التقاطع بين هذا الحدث الكنسي الذي افتتح عهداً جديداً في العلاقات بين الأديان، ومسار هذا الباحث في الدراسات الإسلامية الذي كرّس حياته للحوار حتى وفاته عام 2017.
تكشف كتاباته عن صوت ممارس يقظ تجاه فاعلي التقارب بين الأديان، ومناهجهم ومكاسبهم وعقباتهم. في سياق طبعه صعود التيارات الإسلاموية، يظهر الأب بورمانس مدافعاً ثابتاً عن حوار صارم ومتبصّر. تقدّم هذه الدراسة، ذات الطابع التاريخي واللاهوتي في آنٍ معاً، قراءة جديدة لستين عاماً من العلاقات الإسلامية-المسيحية من خلال فكر بورمانس.
يبدو التبادل بين المسيحيين والمسلمين، في ضوء ذلك، سيرورةً حيّة تستوجب إعادة النظر فيها باستمرار كي تواصل إثمارها اليوم.
فلورنس جافيل، دكتورة في اللاهوت من الجامعة الكاثوليكية في ليون، ناقشت هذه الأطروحة في نيسان/أبريل 2025 تحت إشراف ميشيل يونس.
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Maurice Borrmans (1925-2017), an Islamologist Defending Christian-Muslim Dialogue
On 19 February 2026, in the Maurice Borrmans Library of the Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies (PISAI) in Rome, Florence Javel, who holds a PhD in theology from the Catholic Univer...
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Islamochristiana Journal 49 (2024): “Maurice Borrmans and Mohamed Talbi: From Friendship to Rupture”
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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The authority of mystics: reality or overdetermination of Islamic scholars? Through the eyes of Maurice Borrmans
Conference « Religious Authority in Islam », organised by the Centre for the Study of Cultures and Religions and the Research Unit of the Catholic University of Lyon (UCLy), on 18 and 19 November 2...
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