A great pioneer of Islamic-Christian dialogue who still inspires the path of the Church in India today. Thus in Delhi the figure of Fr. was remembered in recent days. Victor Curtois, a Belgian Jesuit who explored Islamic identity in depth in Calcutta in the mid-20th century.
The occasion to celebrate him in recent days was the seventh edition of the Victor Courtois Memorial Lecture organized by the Association of Islamic Studies in Delhi. This year’s conference was held on February 25th with the intervention of prof. Michael Calabria, Franciscan friar minor, who spoke on the topic: “From Morocco to the Mughal Empire: Franciscan meetings with Muslims and their meaning for today’s interreligious dialogue”.
The Islamologist Fr. Victor Courtois, who died in Kolkata in 1960 at the age of 53, is considered an apostle of Islamic-Christian dialogue in Calcutta. His brother Fr. Victor Edwin, secretary of the Association for Islamic Studies based in New Delhi, explained to AsiaNews: “Fr. Courtois spent much of his life in India and played a fundamental role in transforming relations between Christians and Muslims in this country.
He inaugurated an era of relationships and respect”. The Belgian missionary taught that Christians and Muslims are brothers, since God is the Father of all men. “Fr. Courtois – added Fr. Edwin – he encouraged Christians and Muslims not to hesitate in bearing witness to each other’s faith.”