Professor
Biography
I was born in Vallese, in the plains of Rodano, in the midst of the Alps. My mother language is French and I learned German in school, which served me well when I entered the Socity of Jesus at 24 years of age because I did my novitiate in Innsbruck, Austria followed by philosophy studies in Munich. After theological studies in Paris, I studied Oriental Christianity in Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium. Since 1993, I have been in Rome where I teach Coptic, first at the Ponitifical Oriental Institute and since 1997 at the Ponitifical Biblical Institute. I have visited Egypt frequently since 1987 and have spent time in Lebanon and Syria. I love playing piano and organ and sang in the choir of the University of Geneva before entering the Jesuits and later in Paris, but, alas, no longer. In Rome I accompany two CLC groups, something that permits me to know so many wonderful people in the city.
Country of Birth
Switzerland
Degrees Held
Licence ès Lettres, Université de Genève.
Licence en philologie et histoire orientales, Université de Louvain-la-Neuve.
Licenza in Teologia, PUG.
Doctorat ès Lettres, Histoire de l’Antiquité, Université de Genève.
Publications
Les citations vétéro-testamentaires dans les versions coptes des Évangiles. Recueil et analyse critique. Cahiers d’Orientalisme 22, Genève 1998.
“La Lettre du Patriarche Copte Jean XI au Pape Eugène IV. Nouvelle Édition”, OCP 60 (1994) 87-129.
“Jean XI, 89ème Patriarche Copte: Commentaire de sa Lettre au Pape Eugène IV, suivi d’une esquisse historique sur son patriarcat”, OCP 60 (1994) 519-562.
“Jean de Lycopolis. Derniers fragments parisiens réunis par le Père Devos”, in U. Zanetti – E. Lucchesi Ægyptus christiana. Mélanges d’hagiographie égyptienne et orientale dédiés à la mémoire du P. Paul Devos, Bollandiste, Cahiers d’Orientalisme 25, Genève 2004, 175-193.
“Chénouté, Victor, Jean de Lycopolis et Nestorius. Quand l’archimandrite d’Atripé en Haute-Égypte est-il mort ?”, Orientalia 78 (2009) 258-281.
“Il culto di san Marco ad Alessandria fino al XV secolo”, in S. Boesch Gajano – P. Tomea – L. Caselli, ed., San Pietro e san Marco. Aspetti, luoghi della santità e della agiografia tra Oriente e Occidente, Antichità Altoadriatiche 62, Trieste 2012, 37-67.
Awards & Honors
Open Mind, Open Heart, The Contemplative Dimension of the Gospel, New York: Continuum 2006; originally published Warwick, NY: Amity House 1986.
Invitation to Love, The Way of Christian Contemplation, New York: Continuum 2006; originally published 1992.
The Mystery of Christ, The Liturgy as Spiritual Experience, New York: Continuum 1997; originally published 1987.
Open Mind, Open Heart, The Contemplative Dimension of the Gospel, New York: Continuum 2006; originally published Warwick, NY: Amity House 1986.
Invitation to Love, The Way of Christian Contemplation, New York: Continuum 2006; originally published 1992.
The Mystery of Christ, The Liturgy as Spiritual Experience, New York: Continuum 1997; originally published 1987.
