Paul Mulla (1882–1959) (formerly ''Mollazade Mehmed Ali'') was a

Turkish Cretan The Cretan Muslims ( el, Τουρκοκρητικοί or , or ; tr, Giritli, , or ; ar, أتراك كريت) or Cretan Turks were the Muslim inhabitants of the island of Crete. Their descendants settled principally in Turkey, the Dodecanese ...

Catholic prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pre ...

naturalized French and a professor of

Islamic Studies Islamic studies refers to the academic study of Islam, and generally to academic multidisciplinary "studies" programs—programs similar to others that focus on the history, texts and theologies of other religious traditions, such as Easter ...

at the Pontificio Istituto Orientale.

Biography

Mulla was born in Crete under the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University ...

in a Turkish family. His father İbrahim Pertev was a military doctor and president of the Cretan Muslim community. After having been a fervent

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

in his youth, at the age of fourteen, Ali was sent by his father to study at the Mignonet high school in Aix-en-Provence. After graduating in 1899, he enrolled at the University of Aix-en-Provence in the faculty of law with the intention of becoming a lawyer. The Catholic philosopher Maurice Blondel taught in the faculty, who had a profound influence on the young Mulla. After following his courses for three years, Mulla expressed his desire to

convert Conversion or convert may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * "Conversion" (''Doctor Who'' audio), an episode of the audio drama ''Cyberman'' * "Conversion" (''Stargate Atlantis''), an episode of the television series * "The Conversion" ...

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global popula ...

and after a short period of catechumenate he was

baptised Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost inv ...

in January 1905, taking the Christian name Paul. Immediately afterwards he returned to his family where he stayed for a year, but a difficult period passed, because his conversion was not well accepted, principally by his father. Back in France, he decided to enter the seminary and was ordained a Catholic priest in 1911.

Presbytariate

He was ordained priest in 1913. Mulla intended to return to Turkey to exercise his ministry, but was dissuaded by Ahmed Riza, a Turkish politician living in exile in Paris. He then decided to stay in France and in 1913 obtained French citizenship, beginning to exercise the priestly ministry in Aix-en-Provence. At the outbreak of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

he was called into the army and sent to a military hospital, but due to his knowledge of oriental languages (Turkish, Greek, Arabic and Persian) he was sent to Beirut as an interpreter for the eastern staff. After the war he returned to France in 1919 and returned to being a priest in Aix-en-Provence, also dedicating himself to teaching. Maurice Blondel did not like the idea of one of his best students teaching him in the school of a small provincial diocese, so in 1924 he reported him to the president of the

Pontifical Oriental Institute The Pontifical Oriental Institute, also known as the Orientale, is a Catholic institution of higher education located in Rome and focusing on Eastern Christianity. The plan of creating a school of higher learning for Eastern Christianity had been ...

. With the approval of Pope

Pius XI Pope Pius XI ( it, Pio XI), born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti (; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939), was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 to his death in February 1939. He was the first sovereign of Vatican City f ...

, Paul Mulla was called to Rome in the academic year 1924-1925 to teach

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...

and oriental languages. In 1927 Mulla was appointed

monsignor Monsignor (; it, monsignore ) is an honorific form of address or title for certain male clergy members, usually members of the Roman Catholic Church. Monsignor is the apocopic form of the Italian ''monsignore'', meaning "my lord". "Monsignor" ...

and more later wrote a book on his spiritual journey. Mulla remained teaching at the Pontifical Oriental Institute until his death in 1959. Mulla was a consultant to three popes (Pius XI,

Pius XII Pius ( , ) Latin for "pious", is a masculine given name. Its feminine form is Pia. It may refer to: People Popes * Pope Pius (disambiguation) * Antipope Pius XIII (1918-2009), who led the breakaway True Catholic Church sect Given name * Pius ...

and for a short period of

John XXIII Pope John XXIII ( la, Ioannes XXIII; it, Giovanni XXIII; born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, ; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death in June ...

) in matters of Islamic religions. Although he published little due to sight problems, he had a profound impact on the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

for a better knowledge of the Islamic religion, preparatory to the opening of a religious dialogue.Ali Mehmet Mulla Zadé: A Turk in Rome
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Bibliography

* Vincenzo Poggi, Paul Ali Mehmet Mulla Zade: Islamologist of three popes, Pontifical Oriental Institute, 2012.

Sources

For a dialogue between Christians and Muslims - Fr. Julius Basetti-Sani (1967)

Quid - Religions - Catholicism - Histoire

A 1948 interview with Paul Mulla
by

Sedat Simavi Sedat Simavi (1896 – 11 December 1953) was a Turkish journalist, writer and film director. He established many newspapers and magazines. Biography Simavi was born in 1896. His grandfather and uncles served in different positions in the o ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mulla, Paul 1882 births 1959 deaths Converts to Roman Catholicism from Islam Academic staff of the Pontifical Oriental Institute 20th-century French Roman Catholic priests Turkish Roman Catholic priests Turkish scholars of Islam French scholars of Islam Turkish former Muslims Christian scholars of Islam