Yann Vagneux

Distinguished scholar, Yann Vagneux was born in 1976. His family comes from the region of the French Alps near to the monastery of the Grande Chartreuse. He is a Catholic priest and a member of the Paris Foreign Missions Society who has studied in Paris, Rome and New York. His Doctorate Dissertation in Theology was published in his book Co-esse (DDB, 2015) which set out the Trinitarian Theology of Jules Monchanin, a pioneer of the dialogue between Christianity and Hinduism.

Vagneux first discovered India in 1997 whilst living in a slum area of Madras (Chennai). Fifteen years later, he settled in the multi-religious holy city of Varanasi (Banaras) where he has followed the path of a contemplative Christian presence to Hinduism as had originally been traced by Jules Monchanin and Swami Abhishiktananda (Henri Le Saux).

Deep friendships unite him to the traditional world of the Brahmin Pandits, with whom he continues his Sanskrit studies and engages in a fruitful inter-religious dialogue. His book A Priest in Banaras (ATC, 2020) recounts his early years on the banks of the Ganges.

He lectures in India and France, sharing his life between Varanasi and Kathmandu, at the heart of the main religions of Asia.