In this conference we would like to rediscover why fraternal encounter with people from far-off lands is so important today. We’ll try to sketch the shape of Christian-Muslim relations as they were for the first decade or so of this century. Then, we’d explore some of the ways in which we see a new era dawning which is fundamentally different to that of the 20th Century. Finally, we will draw a few conclusions with regard to a fragmented future of dialogue and encounter on the one hand and violence and misunderstanding on the other.

Damian Howard SJ is a Jesuit priest. Formerly he lectured in interreligious relations at Heythrop College, University of London. He trained at the University of Cambridge, the London School of Economics, the School of African and Oriental Studies, University of London, Centre Sèvres, Paris, and the University of Birmingham, as well as spending time in Cuba and Chile. He writes and broadcasts on issues relating to Islam and Muslim-Christian relations. From 2017 until a few weeks ago he was Provincial Superior of the Jesuits in Great Britain.