All of us aware that it is the challenge of witnessing together in mission that gave birth to ecumenism. The perspectives of both mission and evangelism have changed during the last 75 years. This means that our vision of ecumenism will depend on our views on mission. The question ‘Whither Ecumenism?’ will be answered in...Read More

It may sound strange that we are still speaking of “Indian theology” as something that still has to develop. We have had many books that have charted the developments in Indian theology in the recent decades. The Indian Theological Association has been exploring various topics for over 25 years. But the fact that the Editor...Read More

The Indian Quest For Fullness Theology as mystagogy relates it to spiritual experience, saving it from being an abstract, rational discourse. Theological reflection emerges out of the experience of divine mystery in the sacramental life and leads back to the same experience as it leads to fullness of life. This is how the Fathers of...Read More

In the previous chapters we have been seeing the significance and place of the ‘option for the poor’ in the Christian tradition. Is this option something very special to Christianity or is it found also in other world religions, even if the accents in which it is expressed may be different. Aloysius Pieris, for instance,...Read More

A world full of injustice and inequality, oppression and marginalization is divided between the rich and the poor, the powerful and the powerless, the dominant and the subaltern. There is an ongoing conflict between two groups of people. The more powerful are usually better organized. Strong, though oppressive, socio-economic and political structures are in place....Read More

A Multi-Religious Society India is a multi-religious society. According to the census of 2001, 80.5% of the population are Hindus, 13.4% are Muslims, 2.4% are Christians, 1.9% are Sikhs, 0.8% are Buddhists and 0.4% are Jains. There are small groups belonging to other world religions like Zoroastrianism and Judaism. There is much popular religiosity rooted...Read More

The post-synodal document The Church in Asia acknowledges that Jesus, though born in Asia (2) “is often perceived as foreign to Asia” (20). It suggests that “the ontological notions involved, which must always be presupposed and expressed in presenting Jesus, can be complemented by more relational, historical and even cosmic perspectives.” (20) It mentions various...Read More

In the early centuries as the Church spread across Europe and North Africa, it implanted itself in various contexts and cultures integrating itself with them. This gave rise to various ritual families like the Byzantine, Syrian, Latin, Armenian, Coptic, Slavic, etc. But in the colonial period the Church was rather transplanted in the new territories...Read More

The future of religious life in India would seem bright and secure if we look at its current situation. For a Catholic population of about 15 million there are about 15,000 religious priests, 2,000 religious brothers and nearly 80,000 women religious. The numbers are still growing and vocations seem plentiful. New Congregations and new Indian...Read More

Before we look at the Eucharist as a symbol, it may be helpful to consider the difference between symbol and symblic action. A symbol is different from a sign. A sign often refers to an object in an arbitrary manner. We call an animal ‘cow’. The same animal is called by different names in other...Read More