Consortium to Examine Muslim-Christian Relations

Alongside the Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies in Rome, the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan, and Saint Joseph University of Beirut, Notre Dame has created a consortium for the study of Muslim-Christian relations. 

According to Gabriel Said Reynolds, the Jerome J. Crowley and Rosaleen G. Crowley Professor of Theology, the program is a response to Pope Francis’s vision for interreligious dialogue. Students will be offered unique mentorship and research opportunities, along with site-specific advantages. Reynolds explains, “The Pontifical Institute offers coursework in both Italian and Arabic to students who come from all over the world, while Saint Joseph University has a highly diverse student body in a majority-Muslim country. And Sacro Cuore in Milan has historical connections to the communion and liberation movement within the Catholic Church, as well as a robust, thriving program in Muslim-Christian relations.”

So far, one student from PISAI and one from Sacro Cuore have each spent a semester at Notre Dame, and this upcoming fall, a Notre Dame doctoral student will study at Sacro Cuore. Reynolds believes the number of exchange students will only continue to grow.

In 2020, Reynolds was appointed by Pope Francis to the commission for Catholic-Muslim relations. He believes the pontiff’s visits to Egypt in 2017 and Iraq in 2021 underscore the desire for better relationships with the Muslim world.

“Pope Francis is clearly signaling to Catholics that part of charity is welcoming the other, offering hospitality toward the other, and extending the friendship of Christ to non-Christians as well,” Reynolds says. “In establishing this consortium, we sought to build bridges that will allow us to think together about fruitful ways to engage with Islam and support the Church.”