Jean-Yves Leloup

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Jean-Yves Leloup is a French theologian, writer, translator of Greek and Coptic language texts, born in 1950 in Angers. He is the author of over ninety books in French, some translated into other languages, including English, German, Spanish and Portuguese.The primary subject of his writings is Christian spirituality.

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He has translated and commented on the apocryphal gospels from the Nag Hammadi library according to Thomas, Philip and Mary (Mary Magdalene), as well as the Gospel according to John and the Apocalypse. He also explores the meditative and monastic traditions of the Orthodox Church (Hesychasm) and the teachings of the Fathers of the Church, especially the Desert Fathers, in particular Evagrius Ponticus. He investigates the role of the Feminine in the history of Christianity and considers the dialogue with other spiritual traditions.

Biography

Jean-Yves Leloup was born in 1950 in Angers. [1] Theologian, novelist and essayist, initiated into Buddhism, trained at Mount Athos, became a Dominican priest, then became Orthodox. A pioneer of transpersonal psychology and founder of the Institute for the Encounter and Study of Civilizations (ecumenism) and of the International College of Therapists (special help for the dyings), [2] he shares some "fragments of his itinerance" in his 1991 autobiography L'Absurde et la Grâce. [3]

Converted at the age of 20, he discovered Christianity at Mount Athos through Orthodoxy, before entering the Dominican Order. He was trained in theology and ordained a priest at the Dominican convent in Toulouse in June 1978. He further studied psychology in a New York university (Syracuse), spent some time in California and attended Karlfried Graf Dürckheim’s center for initiatory psychotherapy in Germany. [4]

From 1981 onward, he was responsible, with other religious and seculars, for the International Center, "university of the third millennium", dedicated to the spiritual and the inter-cultural, opened to the welcoming of oriental spiritual traditions at the former Dominican hostelry of the Sainte-Baume. This represented a challenge for the Catholic Church, while at the same time, Interfaith dialogue was encouraged by the Council and was soon to be given an expression, by Pope John Paul II in Assisi at the first World Day of Prayer for Peace. [4] Meanwhile, the Dominicans were driven by another project ; That of a return to the roots and a re-capture of the local population. [4] [5] "The Christian qualification of the Center was therefore challenged by the provincial of the Dominican order and the bishop of Toulon, Monseigneur Madec". [4]

Jean-Yves Leloup left the Dominican order in 1986. [1] Historian Olivier Chatelan indicates that the fact that he was married and had a child, was brought to the attention of the Dominican authorities, he therefore "should no longer be considered a Dominican". He had to give up the functions he held at the International Center of the Sainte-Baume, while "sympathizers came to his cause". [5]

Having been previously baptized Orthodox in the Monastic Republic of Mount Athos, he joined the French Orthodox Church of the Communion of Western Orthodox Churches  ; Where he is known under his religious name of Father Jean Seraphim in the church of Saint-Michel (Var). [6]

Books in English

Related Research Articles

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Hesychasm is a mystical tradition of contemplative prayer in the Eastern Orthodox Church. Based on Jesus's injunction in the Gospel of Matthew that "whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you", hesychasm in tradition has been the process of retiring inward by ceasing to register the senses, in order to achieve an experiential knowledge of God.

Mary Magdalene Follower of Jesus

Mary Magdalene, sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine, was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to his crucifixion and resurrection. She is mentioned by name twelve times in the canonical gospels, more than most of the apostles and more than any other woman in the gospels, other than Jesus's family. Mary's epithet Magdalene may mean that she came from the town of Magdala, a fishing town on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee in Roman Judea.

Mary of Bethany Figure described in the Gospel of John; sister of Lazarus and Martha, living in the village of Bethany near Jerusalem; traditionally identified with Mary Magdalene

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Thomas the Apostle Early Christian, one of the twelve apostles and a saint

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Simon the Zealot Apostle of Jesus

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References

  1. 1 2 "Dictionnaire biographique des frères prêcheurs". OpenEdition Journals (in French). Retrieved November 7, 2021.
  2. Navez, G (2004). "Un art de l'attention". Nouvelle Revue théologique (in French). 126 (1). Retrieved November 7, 2021.
  3. Navez, G (2002). "L'absurde et la grâce". Nouvelle Revue théologique (in French). 124 (3). Retrieved November 7, 2021.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Tincq, Henri (August 4, 1986). "Le Credo dans le Zendo". Le Monde (in French). Retrieved November 7, 2021.(subscription required) for complete article.
  5. 1 2 Chatelan, Olivier (October 13, 2016). "La Sainte-Baume et la Province de Toulouse depuis 1865". Dictionnaire biographique des frères prêcheurs-via OpenEdition Journals (in French). Retrieved November 7, 2021.
  6. "Père Jean Séraphim (Jean-Yves Leloup)" (in French). Retrieved November 7, 2021.