The Foundation for Religious Sciences John XXIII (Italian: Fondazione per le Scienze Religiose Giovanni XXIII) is a research institution in Bologna, Italy and is directed by Alberto Melloni.[1] The organization publishes, organizes, receives and communicates research within religious sciences with a particular view to Christianity.[2]
The foundation began with Giuseppe Dossetti in 1953 and was originally called the Institute for Religious Sciences in Bologna; In 1985 the Institute was renamed to Foundation for Religious Sciences John XXIII.[3] In addition to the many projects that the foundation supports it also maintains numerous archives and collections.[4][5][6][7] One project of particular importance has been the Digital Maktaba, an interdisciplinary project to create and catalog works which are published in non-Latin alphabets such as Arabic, Persian, and Azerbaijani.[8] The project is based at the La Pira library in Palermo and serves as the hub for the Foundations history and doctrines of Islam.