During a study trip organized by the French NGO Œuvre d’Orient, which supports the activities of the IDEO, a visitor asked Jean Druel, O.P: What would change if we did not exist? This is a relevant question, if not a bit thorny. For it is true, what would it change?

Dear friends, For several months, in Cairo, bridges have sprouted up like mushrooms. They are sometimes so close to the houses that on days of traffic jams, coffee could be served to the drivers from the balconies. At the IDEO, the idea of bridges is somehow our philosophy because we

Dear friends, Intended by King Fuʾād, the so-called 1924 Cairo edition of the Qurʾān was published under the scientific authority of an al-Azhar committee. It has become so popular throughout the Arab world that it is often considered to be the standard edition of the Qurʾān. Thus, it has become

Dear friends, In September, we welcomed the President and the Secretary General of the association “The Friends of the IDEO”. Jean Félix-Paganon knows Cairo well. He was an ambassador here. Bertrand Wallon knows the library world well. He was Director of Human Resources at the French National Library. It is

Dear friends, In this new academic year, our institutions are going through many departures and arrivals. The brothers of IDEO living in Cairo are not immune to these movements. Mateus Domingues da Silva, OP our new librarian, will leave for France to follow the Mediadix training course at the University

Dear friends, While no one believed it anymore, the 52ⁿᵈ edition of the Book Fair took place in Cairo from June 30ᵗʰ to July 15ᵗʰ.  Aside from the masks, which are mandatory, nothing has changed. Hundreds of booksellers from the Arab world are present, thousands of visitors and a festive

Dear friends, The year 2021 will definitely be a year of changes in our team in Cairo. After twenty-four years as director of the IDEO’s library, René-Vincent du Grandlaunay, OP passes the torch to Mateus Domingues Da Silva, OP (photo) and takes a few sabbatical months. Through his efforts and

Dear friends, The pioneer work of the IDEO in the field of manuscript cataloging has been rewarded by the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO), on the World Arabic Manuscript Day. Traditionally, libraries manage manuscripts and printed materials in separate catalogs, with no link between them. However, in

Dear friends, From March 5ᵗʰ‒8ᵗʰ, Pope Francis traveled to Iraq and visited many Christian and Muslim religious leaders, both Sunni and Shia. The scars left by the successive conflicts in Iraq and by the grip of Daech are not only visible on the buildings. They are deeply engraved in the

Dear friends, On February 3ʳᵈ and 4ᵗʰ, al-Azhar celebrated the second anniversary of the signing of the Document on Human Fraternity in Abu Dhabi, a declaration signed by the Great Imam of al-Azhar, Aḥmad al-Ṭayyib and Pope Francis, by organizing a two-day online conference headed by Dr. Muḥammad al-Ḍuwaynī, Vice-Great