Fall 2011 Tuohy Lecture Series
John Carroll University College of Arts and Sciences
Department of Theology and Religious Studies
Fall 2011
Rev. Thomas Michel, SJ
2011-2012 Tuohy Chair Holder
Fr. Thomas Michel was born in St. Louis, U.S.A., in 1941. He was ordained a Catholic priest of the Archdiocese of St. Louis in 1967. In 1969, he entered the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. After studying Arabic and Islamic studies in Egypt and Lebanon, he completed his studies and received a doctorate in Islamic theology at the University of Chicago in the U.S.A. His doctoral thesis was directed by Professor Fazlur Rahman and entitled “Ibn Taymiyya’s Al-Jawab al-Sahih: A Muslim Theologian’s Critique of Christianity.” In 1978, after a year teaching at Columbia University in New York, he returned to Indonesia where he taught Islamic studies at the Catholic Faculty of Theology in Sanata Dharma University and Christian theology at Islamic theological institutes.
In 1981, Fr. Michel began work in the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, where he became Head of the Office for relations with Muslims. He remained in the Vatican office for 13 years, until 1994, during which time he spent four years teaching an introduction to Christian theology in universities in Turkey.
Between 1994-2008 Fr. Michel served as Executive Secretary for the Office of Interreligious and Ecumenical Affairs, based in Bangkok, Thailand, and as Secretary for Interreligious Dialogue for the Jesuits, based in Rome. In 2008 he became a Visiting Fellow of the Woodstock Theological Center in Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. He continues to teach in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. He is now living in Ankara, Turkey and has published extensively on modern Muslim thnkers such as Said Nursi and Fethullah Gülen.
In 2008, he received the International Tschelebi Peace Prize from the Zentralinstitut-Islam-Archiv-Deutschland in Soest, Germany, and in 2009 he received the Ali Shir Navai Award from the International Turkish Olympiad in Ankara, Turkey.
In 2010, he was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Theology by the Catholic Theological Union of Chicago, Illinois.
Please select the links below to view lectures
“Muslims Meeting Christians: Aspects of the Encounter”
October 11, 2011: “Christians in Muslim-Majority Regions: Focus on Indonesia and Turkey
The speaker, a Jesuit priest of the Indonesia Province, will draw from his experience to present, compare, anc contract the minority Catholic communites in two predominantly Muslim countries and their relations with Muslim majority.
October 18, 2011: The Trinity as Radical Monotheism
Jews and Muslims often suspect that the Christian belief in the Trinity is a departure from genuine Abrahamic monotheism. Thsi talk will attempt to show that, properly understood, the Christian doctrine is actually a radicalization of monotheist faith.
October 25, 2011: The Dynamism of Neo-Sufi Movements Today: Nursi and Gulen
Two of the most dynamic movements in the Islamic community today are those inspired by Said Nursi and Fethullah Gulen. Promoting the values of love, peace, and tolerance, these movements are committed to oppose “humanity’s true enemies”: ignorance, poverty, and disunity.
November 1, 2011: Muslim-Christian Encounter as Agent of Peacebuilding
Vatican II has called on Muslims and Christians to work together to build peace. This talk aims at giving concrete examples, drawn from the speaker’s experience, of the ways that this is actually being done in various parts of the world.
November 8, 2011: Reading the Qur’an with Christian Eyes
Is it permissible for a Christian to read the Sacred Book, such as the Qur’an, of another religion? What lessons and new insights might a Christian gain from reading the Qur’an? This talk will examine the theological issue and also offer practical advice.
November 15, 2011: A Catholic Priest among Muslims: What I’ve Learned in These Years
The speaker is a Catholic priest who has spent over 40 years living and working with Muslims. In this talk, he will attempt to share some of the things he has learned in these years.
http://sites.jcu.edu/trs/tes/