Jason Welle announces two new publications

Jason Welle, O.F.M., Dean of Studies at PISAI, announces two new publications dedicated to St. Francis’s engagement with Muslims. First, the academic journal The Muslim World recently released a special issue dedicated to the eight hundredth anniversary of the encounter between Francis of Assisi and the Ayyūbid sultan al-Malik al-Kāmil in 1219. Welle co-edited this special issue with Fareed Z. Munir of Siena College (Loudonville, NY, USA) and co-authored the foreword and one article. The issue approaches the encounter with an interdisciplinary perspective, containing articles from the fields of medieval studies, art history, international relations, philosophy, and more. Contributors include Michael Cusato, O.F.M., Michele Campopiano, Kurt Werthmuller, Nirit Ben‐Aryeh Debby, and an afterword by Asma Afsaruddin. The issue can be accessed here. Second, the journal Collectanea, published by the Franciscan Center for Christian Oriental Studies in Cairo, just released its new issue, containing Welle’s article “Arabic Sources for the Encounter between the Saint and the Sultan: Fakhr al-Fārisī’s Famous Adventure with Francis, or Lack Thereof”.