About CESNUR - Cosa è il CESNUR

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. Oltre agli ampi uffici di Torino il CESNUR dispone di piccole sedi o recapiti a negli Stati Uniti e in Sicilia. 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 ampie indagini sulle credenze e le affiliazioni o appartenenze religiose in Sicilia e altrove. Fin dalle sue origini il CESNUR raccoglie e organizza dati sulle minoranze religiose presenti in Italia, offerti al pubblico in opere enciclopediche disponibili sia a stampa sia via Internet.

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 oltre 60.000 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 e dalle ore 14.00 alle ore 17.30 (escluso il mese di 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 <https://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 annui superano 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 150 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, tra le quali la: London School of Economics (1993, 2001 e 2008), 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), Baylor University di Waco, Texas (2004), San Diego (California) State University (2006), Università Michel de Montaigne di Bordeaux (2007), Università di Torino (2010), Aletheia University di Taipei (2011), Università Chouaib Doukkali di El Jadida, in Marocco (2012), Università di Falun, in Svezia (2013), e nuovamente Baylor University di Waco (Texas) (2014)..

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 / Le 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 cesnur_to@virgilio.it

CESNUR: The Center for Studies on New Religions

CESNUR, the Center for Studies on New Religions (Via Confienza 19, 10121 Torino, Italy, phone 39-011-541950, fax 39-011-541905, E-mail: cesnur_to@virgilio.it), 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 60,000 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) from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 2 p.m. to 5.30 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 https://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 150 papers. Conferences have been held inter alia at the London School of Economics (1993, 2001 and 2008), 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 and 2009), the University of Vilnius (2003), Baylor University of Waco, Texas (2004), San Diego (California) State University (2006), Université Michel de Montaigne of Bordeaux (2007), University of Torino (2010), Aletheia University of Taipei (2011), Chouaib Doukkali University of El Jadida, Morocco (2012), University of Falun, Sweden (2013), and again Baylor University if Waxo, Texas (2014) . 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.

Finally every year several 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, updated as “Religions in Italy” in 2006, and continuously updated in its Web version.

CESNUR, Religion, and Public Polity

CESNUR has conducted, in co-operation with public bodies, large surveys on religious belief and affiliation in Italy, in Sicily and elsewhere. The results have been published in several books. 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.

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.

CESNUR's International Network

Besides CESNUR International in Torino, Italy, and other Italian initiatives, we are active in the U.S. through several associates and 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.