Newsletter n. 4 - April 2010 - English Version

This is the newsletter of the Oasis International Foundation, www.oasiscenter.eu

Editor: Maria Laura Conte

Oasis relaunches Georges Anawati
The Catholic philosopher-theologian who explained why it is better for the West to know Islam


“We must open up Christianity to the world. In the same way that Saint Thomas took to Aristotle, we must take to Muhammad. This should not be done for apologetic reasons; it should be done so that we can be culturally open. I do not study Islamic culture to destroy it. . . . It is something beautiful in and of itself. We must value what is beautiful in others. . . . Muslims need us and Christians need Muslims because the two cultures are intermingled. . . . This is what scares fundamentalists; they do not want to communicate.”

These brief remarks by Georges Anawati explain why Oasis is re-presenting the ideas of this Dominican philosopher-theologian from last century. By publishing his book L’ultimo dialogo. La mia vita incontro all’Islam (The Ultimate Dialogue. My life: an Encounter with Islam), by Marcianum Press 2010-I libri di Oasis, we want to show how much he continues to be topical and thought provoking.

The book contains an interview he granted to two friends shortly before his death. In this newsletter, we publish a short excerpt from the book and a presentation edited by Maurice Borrmans.
 

Correspondence and Analyses


Education in Indonesia, the challenges of globalisation


Oasis is preparing its annual international scientific committee (Beirut, 21-22 June 2010) with “education” as its topic.

As a foretaste to the event, we offer an article on education in Indonesia. Roberto Simona, in charge of the Swiss chapter of the association Aid to the Church in Need, is back from a trip to Indonesia. He highlights the critical points in the education of the younger generations in this predominantly Muslim, but multiethnic Asian nation.

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Rejection of the petition against the blasphemy law, Indonesia under the thumb of hard-line Islam


F. Franz Magnis Suseno provides Oasis with the background to the political debate that just ended before the Constitutional Court of Indonesia concerning the 1965 blasphemy law, which was challenged by the National Human Rights Commission, among others.

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Surprising Algeria, where religious conversions are publicly debated


Mgr Henri Teissier, who is the Archbishop Emeritus of Algiers and someone who knows well Algeria, tells Oasis in an exclusive contribution what is new on the Algerian scene on the matter of conversions. The topic was at the centre of a symposium organised by the competent Algerian ministry.

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News and Events


International Scientific Committee –
Oasis Foundation
 

Education between faith and culture: Christian and Muslim experiences in dialogue
Beirut, 21-22 June 2010

Key Speakers:
H.Em Angelo Cardinal Scola, Patriarch of Venice;
H.Em. Jean-Louis Cardinal Tauran, President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue;
Prof Mustapha Cherif, former Algerian Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research;
Prof Tareq Mitri, Information Minister of Lebanon;
Prof Ridwan al-Sayyed, professor of Islamic Studies and editor-in-chief of the al-Ijtihad newspaper;
Prof Hani Fahs, member of the Higher Shia Council of Lebanon;
Prof Hicham Nashabe, President of the Makassed Islamic University;
Prof Antoine Messarra, member of the Constitutional Council of Lebanon;
Prof Selim Daccache SJ, Dean of the Faculty of Religious Sciences at Saint Joseph University in Beirut;
Rev Fr Marwan Tabet ML, Secretary General of Catholic Schools in the Middle East;
Prof Mohammed Samaha, Jama'iyyat at-ta'lim ad-dini al-islami.

 

Book Review

Georges Corm, Il Libano Contemporaneo. Storia e società, Jaca Book 2006

by Martino Diez

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In Sub-Saharan Africa, Christians are twice as many as Muslims.


Click here for the entire report on religion in sub-Saharan Africa by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. The report shows that in a century, the religious landscape of sub-Saharan Africa has changed radically. If the number of Muslims rose from about 11 million in 1900 to 234 million in 2010, the number of Christians soared from about 7 million to 470 million. This means that Sub-Saharan Africa is now home to one Christian in five and more than one Muslim in seven.

The articles published in this newsletter are the exclusive responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Oasis Foundation.

Oasis publishes also a biannual journal. Click here to find out its contents