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CESNUR - center for studies on new religions
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About

Il CESNUR (Centro Studi sulle Nuove Religioni), fondato in Italia nel 1988 da un gruppo di accademici e studiosi di scienze religiose europei e americani interessati allo studio delle minoranze religiose e spirituali di qualunque genere e tipo e alla costruzione di "mappe" delle appartenenze religiose in tutti i paesi del mondo, è attualmente presieduto dal professor Luigi Berzano, ordinario di Sociologia generale presso l’Università di Torino, e diretto dal professor Massimo Introvigne, autore di una trentina di volumi in tema di minoranze religiose e noto specialista del settore. Il Comitato Scientifico che dà impulso alle sue iniziative comprende, con altri, la professoressa Eileen Barker, ordinario di Sociologia presso la London School of Economics, il dottor J. Gordon Melton, presidente dell’Institute for the Study of American Religion di Santa Barbara (California), il professor Jean-François Mayer, docente di Storia delle religioni presso l’Università di Friburgo (Svizzera), il professor Reender Kranenborg, docente di Religioni comparate presso l’Università Libera di Amsterdam.

1. Profilo

Il CESNUR è indipendente da qualunque organizzazione religiosa o confessionale. Guidato, come si è accennato, da un comitato scientifico internazionale in cui si trovano rappresentanti di alcuni fra i più prestigiosi centri di ricerca accademici sulle minoranze religiose, fa della laicità della ricerca (intesa come metodo, e da non confondere quindi con il laicismo) la propria bandiera e si interdice giudizi di valore o teologici sulle dottrine delle minoranze religiose che studia. Del resto, originariamente promosso da cattolici, il CESNUR comprende oggi nelle sue fila studiosi delle più svariate provenienze religiose e confessionali (o di nessuna).

Il CESNUR costituisce una rete di centri e studiosi indipendenti ma collegati, presenti in vari paesi del mondo, che si prefiggono di promuovere studi e ricerche nel campo della religiosità così come essa si presenta nel multiforme panorama contemporaneo, fornendo informazioni obiettive e portando a conoscenza dell’opinione pubblica i problemi reali che alcuni movimenti religiosi comportano e, allo stesso momento, difendendo il fondamentale principio della libertà religiosa.

Il CESNUR è stato riconosciuto nel 1996 come associazione con decreto della Giunta Regionale del Piemonte; la Regione Piemonte costituisce tuttora la principale fonte di finanziamento dei suoi progetti. Il Centro è inoltre finanziato dai contribuiti dei suoi membri e dai diritti ricavati dalla vendita delle pubblicazioni prodotte dai suoi ricercatori. Oltre agli ampi uffici di Torino il CESNUR dispone di piccole sedi o recapiti a Parigi, Santa Barbara (California) e Riga (Lettonia). I diversi collaboratori, residenti in varie nazioni e continenti, si scambiano quotidianamente informazioni, aggiornamenti, documenti e fonti sulle diverse realtà religiose - soprattutto laddove si verificano situazioni particolari - attraverso i diversi strumenti di comunicazione.

 2. CESNUR, religione e politica

In Italia il CESNUR collabora regolarmente con gli organismi legislativi e la pubblica amministrazione. In collaborazione con le amministrazioni locali ha condotto due ampie indagini sulle credenze e le affiliazioni o appartenenze religiose in Sicilia e in provincia di Foggia. I risultati sono stati pubblicati nei volumi La sfida infinita (1994) e Il gigante invisibile (1997). Negli anni 1999-2000 un’ampia équipe di studiosi ha condotto un’amplissima e approfondita indagine sui vari gruppi e appartenenze religiose presenti su tutto il territorio nazionale. I risultati sono stati pubblicati nella primavera del 2001 e costituiscono la prima Enciclopedia delle Religioni in Italia.

Il Centro, nelle persone dei suoi collaboratori, offre assistenza a politici, parlamentari, partiti, giuristi, legislatori, magistrati, forze di polizia, pubblici amministratori e funzionari relativamente alle questioni concernenti gruppi e minoranze religiose, nel rispetto delle leggi sulla privacy e del diritto inalienabile e costituzionalmente garantito alla libertà religiosa, che difende in ogni sede o paese dove sia minacciato, anche attraverso iniziative di educazione al pluralismo religioso e consulenze a organismi internazionali.

 3. La Biblioteca

A Torino, presso gli uffici del CESNUR (Via Confienza 19) ha sede la Biblioteca del CESNUR. Il Direttore, professor Massimo Introvigne, negli anni 1970 incominciò a collezionare a titolo personale volumi sulle minoranze religiose, sulle scuole esoteriche e gnostiche, sulla letteratura popolare a sfondo religioso, magico o metaphysical. La collezione attualmente include circa 20.0000 volumi in molte lingue e raccolte complete o semi-complete di più di 200 riviste e pubblicazioni. Seppure la collezione rimanga proprietà personale del Direttore, i volumi sono consultabili presso la Biblioteca, che è aperta al pubblico dal lunedì al venerdì dalle ore 10.00 alle ore 13.00 (esclusi i mesi di luglio e agosto) — si consiglia di prendere appuntamento. L’elenco completo dei volumi disponibili per la consultazione (suddiviso per argomenti) è continuamente aggiornato ed è accessibile attraverso il sito del CESNUR. La Biblioteca rappresenta la più ampia collezione europea di volumi sulle minoranze religiose e la seconda al mondo.

 4. Il sito Web

Il CESNUR dispone di un sito Web (raggiungibile all’URL <http://www.cesnur.org>) che pubblica notizie relative alle attività del Centro e una serie di testi e articoli di specialisti di scienze religiose e cultura popolare relativi ai vari argomenti fatti oggetto di ricerche. Gli accessi nell’anno 2000 hanno superato il milione.

 5. Conferenze e seminari

Annualmente il CESNUR organizza un convegno internazionale che raduna i principali specialisti nello studio della nuova religiosità. Ogni convegno raccoglie fra le 50 e le 80 relazioni, che riguardano i diversi aspetti della religiosità contemporanea Oltre a studiosi o accademici esperti in scienze religiose, partecipano ai convegni politici, legislatori, giudici, avvocati, psichiatri, psicologi, educatori, responsabili di chiese e movimenti religiosi e giornalisti specializzati. I convegni annuali si sono fino ad ora tenuti presso istituzioni italiane e straniere di indubbio rilievo: London School of Economics (1993 e 2001), Università Federale di Pernambuco, Recife, in Brasile (1994), Università Statale di Roma (1995), Università di Montreal (1996), Università Libera di Amsterdam (1997), Unione Industriale di Torino (1998), Bryn Athyn College in Pennsylvania (1999), Università di Riga in Lettonia (2000), University of Utah e Brigham Young University (2002), Università di Vilnius (2003).

Periodicamente seminari di studio, conferenze o convegni sono organizzati dalle singole branche della rete internazionale del CESNUR in vari paesi, anche in sede istituzionale (così, un seminario è stato organizzato presso il Parlamento Europeo a Strasburgo) e soprattutto in Italia.

 6. Pubblicazioni

I ricercatori del CESNUR pubblicano diversi volumi e sussidi (ad esempio videocassette) che sono sia frutto di ricerche individuali sia di lavori di équipe. Essi sono destinati ad esperti del settore ma anche al grosso pubblico.

Il successo editoriale della collana Religioni e Movimenti (Elle Di Ci), costituita da brevi monografie a carattere divulgativo (che ha anche un’edizione in lingua spagnola ed una in lingua inglese, con alcuni testi tradotti in francese), e di altre opere, tra cui la monumentale Enciclopedia delle religioni in Italia, mostrano l’interesse dei lettori per il lavoro condotto dal Centro.

 7. Indirizzo

CESNUR - Via Confienza 19 - 10121 Torino

Tel. 011-541950 Fax 011-541905 E-mail cesnurto@tin.it

CESNUR, the Center for Studies on New Religions, is an international network of associations of scholars working in the field of new religious movements. Its director is the Italian scholar Massimo Introvigne. CESNUR is independent from any religious group, Church, denomination or association. This site is managed by CESNUR International of Torino, Italy (Via Confienza 19, 10121 Torino, Italy, phone 39-011-541950, fax 39-011-541905, E-mail: cesnurto@tin.it) and does not engage the responsibility of any other association or group. The texts of this site, selected because of their scholarly interest, represent the point of view of their authors. CESNUR does not necessarily agree with them. CESNUR International's library - the second largest in the world and the largest in Europe in its field - is open to the public in Torino Monday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. We recommend to phone in advance at any rate. In the U.S. CESNUR U.S.A. is located at the Institute for the Study of American Religion, P.O. Box 90709, Santa Barbara, California 93190-0709, fax 1-805-6834876, E-mail: jgordon@linkline.com and is working independently as a part of the international CESNUR network. 

CESNUR: The Center for Studies on New Religions

CESNUR, the Center for Studies on New Religions, was established in 1988 by a group of religious scholars from leading universities in Europe and the Americas. Its managing director, professor Massimo Introvigne, has held teaching positions in the field of sociology and history of religion in a number of Italian universities. He is the author of twenty-three books and the editor of another ten in the field of religious sciences. CESNUR's original aim was to offer a professional association to scholars specialized in religious minorities, new religious movements, contemporary esoteric, spiritual and gnostic schools, and the new religious consciousness in general. In the 1990s it became apparent that inaccurate information was being disseminated to the media and the public powers by activists associated with the international anti-cult movement. Some new religious movements also disseminated unreliable or partisan information. CESNUR became more pro-active and started supplying information on a regular basis, opening public centers and organising conferences and seminars for the general public in a variety of countries. Today CESNUR is a network of independent but related organizations of scholars in various countries, devoted to promote scholarly research in the field of new religious consciousness, to spread reliable and responsible information, and to expose the very real problems associated with some movements, while at the same time defending everywhere the principles of religious liberty. While established in 1988 by scholars who were mostly Roman Catholic, CESNUR has had from its very beginning boards of directors including scholars of a variety of religious persuasions. It is independent from any Church, denomination or religious movement. CESNUR International was recognized as a public non-profit entity in 1996 by the Italian authorities, who are the main current contributors to its projects. It is also financed by royalties on the books it publishes with different publishers, and by contributions of the members. As a public non-profit entity, accounts of its projects are filed with the Region of Piedmont, in Italy.

 

The International Center and Library

Professor Massimo Introvigne, the managing director of CESNUR, started collecting books on minority religions and esoteric-gnostic schools in the 1970s. His collection now includes more than 20,000 volumes and complete or semi-complete runs of more than 200 journals and magazines. While remaining his personal property, it is housed by CESNUR and open to the public from Monday to Friday (except July and August) from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the International Center of Via Confienza 19, Torino. Continuously updated and fully indexed on computer, it is regarded as the largest collection in Europe and the second in the world in its field. A librarian and a research assistant work at the International Center, guiding visitors from all over the world, answering requests for information and updating files on hundreds of religious movements.

 

The Web Site

CESNUR International may be reached on the Internet at http://www.cesnur.org. It includes news on future CESNUR activities and a library of selected papers on a wide variety of topics.

 

Conferences and Seminars

CESNUR's yearly annual conference is the largest world gathering of those active in the field of studies on new religions. Each conference normally features 50 to 80 papers. Conferences have been held inter alia at the London School of Economics (1993 and 2001), the Federal University of Pernambuco in Recife, Brazil (1994), the State University of Rome (1995), the University of Montreal (1996), the Free University of Amsterdam (1997), the Industrial Union in Turin (1998), the Bryn Athyn College in Pennsylvania (1999), the University of Latvia in Riga (2000), the University of Utah and Brigham Young University (2002), the University of Vilnius (2003). Attendees include not only scholars, educators, and graduate students, but also lawyers, judges, law enforcement officials, pastors, mental health professionals, and specialized journalists.

Periodically, special seminars are organized on single topics by CESNUR's international network. In the wake of the controversies originated by the French parliamentary report on cults (1996), conferences were organized at the Sorbonne University on the anti-cult movement (1996) and in Paris on the shortcomings of the brainwashing model (1997). Four well-attended press conferences were also organized in order to criticize the French report, two in Paris (one at the Senate), one in Brussels, and one in Geneva, When a commission of the European Parliament started examining the issue of cults, a conference with leading scholars from Europe and the U.S. intended for members of the European Parliament and their staff was organized within the Parliament itself in Strasbourg (on May 13, 1997) and chaired by two Parliament members.

Finally every week 2-3 seminars or lectures are organized in Italy and elsewhere (including, increasingly, in Eastern Europe) in order to introduce the basic concepts of a scholarly approach to new religious movements to local scholars, priests an pastors, students, government officers, professionals, and the general public. In Italy CESNUR co-operates regularly with law enforcement agencies, supplying information and offering the services of the International Center. Although CESNUR is primarily a scholarly organization, it has never refused to co-operate with ex-members or families of current members of religious movements, offering help or directing them to specialized professionals.

 

Publications

CESNUR sponsors a wide range of publications, from the very scholarly to those intended for the general public. A collection of hundred-pages booklets on movements and religious trends published with a leading Catholic publisher is being extremely successful in Italy and publication in Spanish has started. English and French translations have also been published. These monographs are regarded as the standard references on a number of groups, particularly (although not exclusively) in the Catholic world, where knowledge of the Italian language is widespread. CESNUR also produced a three-videos course on new religious movements intended for Catholic schools and parishes in Italy. Its main project in Italian has been the monumental Encyclopedia of Religions in Italy (2001), which was the most reviewed non-fiction work in the Italian media in 2001.

Perhaps CESNUR's most well-known publishing project is the response by 22 scholars to the French parliamentary report of 1996. CESNUR's book, Pour en finir avec les sectes, went into three printings in one year and has played a significant role in casting doubts about the reliability of the French report. Criticism of other parliamentary or public reports (Canton of Geneva, Belgium) and suggestions for an alternative approach have been circulated on the Internet, through press conferences, and through the multilingual Lettre du CESNUR.

 

CESNUR, Religion, and Public Polity

CESNUR has conducted, in co-operation with public bodies, two of the largest surveys on religious belief and affiliation in Italy, one in Sicily and one in the province of Foggia. the result have been published in two books, La sfida infinita (1994) and Il gigante invisibile (1997). CESNUR is proud to enjoy a fruitful co-operation with a number of law enforcement agencies and public bodies. It has been able to assist members of parliaments, political parties, and law enforcement agencies by formulating suggestions on how to handle problems related to religion and religious minorities. On the other hand, CESNUR notices that, when scholars are ignored or regarded as less reliable than anti-cult activists, serious mistakes are made. The French and/or the Belgian parliamentary reports on "cults" listed among "cults" -- to name just a few -- the Quakers, the Baha'i, the Seventh-day Adventists, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Assemblies of God and other Pentecostal bodies, Evangelical missions, the Lectorium Rosicrucianum, Anthroposophy, the Church of Christ, Zen, Theravada, Tibetan and Nichiren Buddhist organizations, the YWCA, Hasidic Jews, and Catholic groups and religious orders including the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, Opus Dei, and the Work. Some of these groups have defended themselves by arguing that they accept the general category of "cult" as outlined by the reports, but claim that it is wrongly applied to them. This seems to be a very weak defense. The effective defense should be to show that the category of "cults" used by these documents is unscholarly and not acceptable. Methodologically, it is clear that these reports rely primarily on sources supplied by the international anti-cult movement, and accept uncritically the brainwashing or mind control model of conversion, a model unanimously rejected by mainline sociological and psychological science. It is this methodology that should be exposed as faulty.

CESNUR does not believe that all religious movements are benign. The fact that a movement is religious does not mean that it could not become dangerous. To the contrary, our experience shows that dangerous or even criminal religious movements do exist. CESNUR invites scholars not to ignore questions of doctrine, authenticity, and legitimacy of spiritual paths. Although questions of authenticity could not be addressed by courts of law in a secular State, the latter could and should intervene when real crimes are perpetrated. Consumers of spiritual goods should not enjoy less protection than consumers in other fields. And when suicide, homicide, child abuse or rape are condoned or promoted, we urge a strong application of criminal laws. On the other hand "cults" in general should not suffer for the crimes of a minority of them. We are against special legislation against "cults", or against "brainwashing", "mind control" or "mental manipulation" (by any name). Any minority happening to be unpopular could be easily accused to own the invisible and non-existing weapon of "brainwashing", and special legislation would reduce religious liberty to an empty shell. Protection of religious liberty also requires that each group be examined on its own merits, comparing different sources and not relying exclusively on information provided by hostile ex-members. Experiences of disgruntled ex-members should certainly not be ignored, but they could not become the only narratives used to build our knowledge of a group.

Information supplied by anti-cult activists claims to be eminently practical but in fact is largely theoretical and anedoctical, based as it is on secondary sources, from press clippings to accounts of families of members (not necessarily familiar with the movements) or of ex-members rationalizing their past experiences. Scholars, having a direct contact both with ex-members and actual members may supply more balanced information. And balanced information is precisely what the public powers and the media need.

 

CESNUR's International Network

Besides CESNUR International in Torino, Italy, and other Italian initiatives, CESNUR France has a small office in Paris (c/o M.e Olivier-Louis Séguy - 119, Rue de Lille, 75007 Paris, France), acting as a liaison office with CESNUR International. CESNUR U.S.A. is at the Institute for the Study of American Religion in Santa Barbara, California (P.O. Box 90709, fax 805-683-4876, E-mail: jgordon@linkline.com). Additional CESNURs are being established in other countries. Computer cross-links allow an effective co-operation and the possibility for each CESNUR to provide state-of-the-art information supplied by leading scholars of the field, particularly when a crisis hits. 1997 incidents such as the Heaven's Gate suicide in California and the third suicide of the Solar Temple in Quebec show that the quality media in a number of countries increasingly look to CESNUR scholars, ignoring anti-cult activists whose information on these subjects is normally very poor.

Le CESNUR (Centre d'études sur les nouvelles religions) est un réseau international d'associations de spécialistes des nouveaux mouvements religieux dirigé par l'historien et sociologue italien Massimo Introvigne. Il est indépendant de tout groupe, mouvement ou association religieuse. Cette page est publiée par le CESNUR de Turin (Via Confienza 19, 10121 Torino, Italie, tél.: 39-011-541950, fax 39-011-541905, E-mail: cesnurto@tin.it) et n'engage pas la responsabilité d'autres associations. Les textes diffusés, choisis en raison de leur intêret, n'engagent que leurs auteurs, dont le point de vue n'est pas nécessairement celui du CESNUR. La bibliothéque du CESNUR, la deuxième du monde et la première en Europe dans son secteur, avec plus de "0.000 volumes, est ouverte du lundi au vendredi de 10h à 13h. Il est en tout cas conseillé de prendre rendez-vous, en signalant des necessités spécifiques. En France le CESNUR France (c/o M.e Olivier-Louis Séguy - 119, Rue de Lille, 75007 Paris, France) travaille de façon autonome dans le réseau international du CESNUR. On peut s'adresser à lui pour tout renseignement concernant les activités en France. 

 

CESNUR, el Centro de Estudios sobre las Nuevas Religiones, es una red internacional de asociaciones cientificas que se desempeñan en el campo de los nuevos movimientos religiosos. Su director es el especialista italiano Massimo Introvigne. El CESNUR es un centro independiente de todo grupo religioso, Iglesia o movimiento. Esta pagina es publicada por el CESNUR Internacional de Turín, Italia (Via Confienza 19, 10121 Torino, Italy, te: 39-011-541950, fax 39-011-541905, E-mail: cesnurto@tin.it) de modo independiente de toda otra asociación. Los artículos publicados han sido elegidos por su contenido cientifico respetando el punto de vista de cada autor, del cual el CESNUR no se hace responsable. La Biblioteca Internacional del CESNUR - la más grande en Europa y la segunda en el mundo en su sector- es abierta al público de Lunes a Viernes de 10 a 13 horas en Turín. Se sugiere solicitar cita anticipadamente por telefono. 

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