Acacia Foundation welcomes Fr. Thomas Michel, S.J. May 2, 2008

INTERFAITH DIALOGUE'S CONTRIBUTION TO PEACE BUILDING
by Fr. Thomas Michel, S.J. (Woodstock International Fellow, Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.)

Please RSVP by April 28 at rsvp@acaciafoundation.org
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Fr. Michel was born in St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.A., in 1941. After completing studies in philosophy and theology, he was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of St. Louis in 1967. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1969. After Arabic and Islamic studies in Egypt and Lebanon, he completed a doctoral dissertation on the thought of the Muslim scholar Ibn Taymiyya and received a Ph.D. in Islamic thought from the University of Chicago in 1978.

In 1981, he was appointed to the Asia Desk of the Vatican Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue and in 1988, he became Head of the Office for Islam in the same Vatican department. Since 1994, he has served as Executive Secretary of the Office for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences in Bangkok, Thailand. Since 1996, he is Director of the Jesuit Secretariat for Interreligious Dialogue in Rome, Italy, and Ecumenical Secretary for the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences. At present, he is a Woodstock International Fellow at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.

Official Website: http://www.acaciafoundation.org/eventthomasmichel.htm