When the Constitution of India was being drafted, there were suggestions that the term ‘secular’ be included in the preamble. Both Nehru and Ambedkar did not take the suggestion seriously, because they felt that India was a religious country and the term ‘secular’ would not quite fit in. The term ‘secular’ is seen as the...Read More

The Second World Parliament of Religions (Chicago,1993) published a Declaration of a Global Ethic, which had four basic affirmations: 1. Commitment to a culture of non-violence and respect for life 2. Commitment to a culture of solidarity and a just economic order 3. Commitment to a culture of tolerance and a life of truthfulness 4....Read More

Nearly twenty years ago, I wrote a paper on “Liberation: An Inter-religious Project” for a book Leave the Temple: Indian Paths to Human Liberation (1992), edited by Dr. Felix Wilfred and originally published in German (1988). Both the situation and our perspectives have been changing over the last twenty years. The multi-religious situation, both in...Read More

In Hinduism (and India) power and partnership in Hindu society (and religion) is heavily structured and determined by the caste system. The Muslim and the British empires protected and used the system for their own ends for a millennium. India has a functioning democratic political system for the last 64 years. But the caste system...Read More

Pope Francis is fast emerging as a model of dialogue both in word and deed. One of his early gestures was a letter to the Italian daily La Republica. A former Editor, Eugenio Scalfari, had written two articles commenting on the Pope’s encyclical Lumen Fidei (The Light of Faith), prepared by Benedict the XVI and...Read More

A Post-Modern Appraisal Post-modernism is not an Indian phenomenon. Both at the level of art and philosophy Indians are actually following developments in the West. Scientifically and technologically India is as modern (or post-modern) as any country in the West. But philosophically the development from the pre-modern to the modern and post-modern is an European...Read More

Every institution has its leaders. But the kind of leadership they exercise and the way they exercise it depends on the kind of institution in question. That is why, before we explore what pastoral governance involves in the Church today, we have to have a clear idea of what is our image of the Church...Read More

The world is fast becoming a global village. Internationality has a new face and poses new challenges. The globalization of communications and consumerism seem to be leading to a homogenization of culture. At the same time, inter-ethnic, inter-religious conflicts are also on the increase. Subaltern groups like indigenous peoples, socially oppressed groups and minorities are...Read More

The title ‘Love of God’ is ambiguous. It is not clear whether it means the love of God for us or our love for God. Actually we do not really have to choose because both are mutually involving each other. As a matter of fact love is a dialogue. The initiative is God’s. It is...Read More