Massimo Introvigne, an Italian sociologist, is founder and Managing Director of the Center for Studies on New Religions (CESNUR) in Torino, Italy and editor of the daily magazine on religious liberty in China, Bitter Winter. He is the author of some 70 books in the field of Sociology of Religions, mostly devoted to new religious movements. He served in 2011 as the Representative of OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) for combating racism, xenophobia, and intolerance and discrimination against Christians and members of other religions. From 2012 to 2015, he was Chairperson of the Observatory of Religious Liberty co-instituted by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the City of Rome.