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Center For Studies On New Religions
CESNUR (Centro Studi sulle Nuove Religioni, "Center for Studies on New Religions"), is a non-profit organization based in Turin, Italy that studies new religious movements and opposes the anti-cult movement. It was established in 1988 by Massimo Introvigne, Jean-François Mayer and Ernesto Zucchini. Its first president was Giuseppe Casale. Later, Luigi Berzano became CESNUR's president. CESNUR has been described as "the highest profile lobbying and information group for controversial religions". CESNUR's scholars have defended such diverse groups as the Unification Church, the Church of Scientology, the Order of the Solar Temple (responsible for 74 deaths in mass murder-suicide), and Shincheonji Church of Jesus, accused of having aided the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea. CESNUR describes itself as an independent scholarly organization, but the organization has met with criticism for alleged personal and financial ties to the groups it studies; anthropologist R ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Massimo Introvigne
Massimo Introvigne (born June 14, 1955, in Rome) is an Italian Roman Catholic sociologist of religionJason Horowitz"A Clash of Worldviews as Pope Meets Putin" ''The New York Times'', July 4, 2019. and intellectual property attorney. He is a founder and the managing director of the Center for Studies on New Religions ( CESNUR), a Turin-based organization which has been described as "the highest profile lobbying and information group for controversial religions". Life and work Introvigne was born in Rome on June 14, 1955. Introvigne earned a B.A. in Philosophy from Rome's Gregorian University in 1975, and in 1979 his Dr.Jur. from University of Turin. He worked from the law firm Jacobacci e Associati as an intellectual property attorney, specialized in domain names. In 1972, he joined conservative Catholic group Alleanza Cattolica. From 2008 to 2016 he has served as vice-president of the group. In 1988 he co-founded the CESNUR and has since served as the group director. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |