Father Laurent Basanese S.J., of French nationality, is an Official of the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue (Holy See) and Professor of theology of religions at the Pontifical Gregorian University. He founded the Gregorian Centre for Interreligious Studies and ran the Series Interreligious and Intercultural Investigations until 2021. He is one of the referent experts for the University Platform for Research on Islamin Europe and Lebanon (PLURIEL) initiated by the Federation of the Catholic Universities in Europe, and a scientific expert of the National Fund for Scientific Research (FNRS), Belgium. In 2020, he was appointed, by Pope Francis, Consultor of the Commission for Religious Relations with Muslims at the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, and then Official of the same Dicastery in 2021. He was also the Chaplain of the Pontifical Gregorian University.

‍