Javier Melloni Ribas is an Italian-Catalan
Jesuit
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
anthropologist
An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms and ...
and
theologian
Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...
.
Biography
Javier Melloni Ribas was born in
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
in 1962; his mother is Catalan and his father, Italian. At 18 he joined the
Society of Jesus
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
He became a Jesuit priest, graduated with a degree in cultural anthropology and obtained a PhD inTheology. He currently lives in the
Cueva de San Ignacio in
Manresa
Manresa () is the capital of the Comarca of Bages, located in the geographical centre of Catalonia, Spain, and crossed by the river Cardener. It is an industrial area with textile, metallurgical, and glass industries. The houses of Manresa are ...
,
Catalonia
Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy.
Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...
.
Career
Melloni is a Jesuit who became interested in the Ignatius spiritual exercises and acquired thorough knowledge of religious texts. He is a member of Cristianisme i Justícia, Spiritual Theology professor in the and in the Institute of Fundamental Theology in Sant Cugat. His specializes in interreligious dialogue and comparative mysticism.
He is on the editorial board of journals such as ''Manresa'' (a journal of Ignatian spirituality) and ''Diagonal'' (a journal of interreligious dialogue). He is the author of essays of different topics focused on spirituality, theology, interreligious dialogue and comparative mysticism. These publications present his theoretical and practical exercises.
Religious perspective
* Interreligious dialogue
Javier Melloni is well known for being a theologian who practices, theorizes and reflects about
interreligious dialogue
Interfaith dialogue refers to cooperative, constructive, and positive interaction between people of different religious traditions (i.e. "faiths") and/or spiritual or humanistic beliefs, at both the individual and institutional levels. It is ...
. Melloni proofs the proverb: extra Ecclesiam nulla salus (outside church there is no salvation) This expression was first formulated by St. Cipriano de Cartago(288): it was resumed and strengthen in the fourteenth century by Boniface VIII in his Bull Unam Sanctam (1302), and submits it to the next level distanced from the actual religion in order to find essential contact points passing through many religions and that raises them in a purely spiritual way. The ultimate goal is to give Javier Melloni that "respect and acceptance of others, reflecting the opening and donation to Another".
Melloni’s theoretical background involves anthropological, sociological, epistemological and theological factors. For him the interreligious dialogue is as a normal dialogue that needs the participants’ willingness to be open-minded and to detach from oneself in order to enable the existence of others.
Based on his ideology, Javier Melloni states that the interreligious dialogue has two main results: 1) the assumption that religious confession leads to mystery and 2) with that assumption people can embrace the spiritual wealth of humanity.
* Comparative Mysticism
Javier Melloni has studied comparative mysticism as a complement to interreligious dialogue. He has established that the profound meaning of religious mysticism does not imply an evasion of the actual world but the opportunity of being self-transformed throughout the most significant religious aspects. Comparative mysticism involves a journey throughout the mystical experiences that every religion has.
[MELLONI, Javier, Voces de la mística I, Herder, Barcelona, 2009]
Work
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References
External links
* http://www.covamanresa.cat
* http://www.sjweb.info/
{{DEFAULTSORT:Melloni, Javier
Living people
1962 births