A 'Love Story' in the Mission Context of India (original) (raw)

A Church that Is Poor and for the Poor: Counter-Cultural Solidarities and Transformative Pedagogies for Catholic Faculties in India

2013

Pope Francis's vision o- f a poor Church for the poor is a call to be<br> more authentic and focused in our mission. However, we need to<br> constantly contextualise our understanding o- f what it means to be<br> poor for our Church today and every day; as also who the poor are<br> and how they are to be served. It is particularly pertinent for eccle-<br> sial studies in a poor country. For as institutions o- f higher learning<br> Catholic faculties are concerned with not just the transmission but<br> the transformation of the social heritage of the Church.<br> Given the huge institutional investment o f the Church, what Is need­-<br> ed today is prophetic witnessing not just by charismatic individuals,<br> but by Church institutions. Catholic faculties are called to give such<br> prophetic institutional witness.<br> Pope Francis's vision and mission for the Church is a defining mo­-<br> ment, a ka...

Five Years of Pope Francis – Insights for Indian Christians

Assisi had rendered the name to the new Pope! My joys found no boundaries! A Jesuit from a Latin American country, who finished the second best in 2005 conclave however, who was written off as his time was over and who had come with the return ticket and leaving his Chrism Mass Homily on the table ready in order to return home on 18 th March to be in time to celebrate the feast of St. Joseph in his own cathedral, is now the new Pope! From the moment of his first appearance on the window of the papal residence he appealed to me as 'the man of the time'. This paper presents a few insights from the five years of his papacy to enhance the pastoral praxis of the Church in India.

In Search of a Truly Indian Catholic Theology in Nehruvian India

Horizons, 2024

The Modi dispensation provides a unique vantage for assessing the role, program, and self-understanding of the emergence of a local, indigenous style of theology within Roman Catholicism in India during the Nehruvian era. The style has often been linked to the internal history of Catholicism in the aftermath of Vatican II. In this article, the emphasis is rather located in the Indian context, and more specifically in the Nehruvian India.

Pope John Paul II and the Catholic Church in India

Mar Thoma Yogam, Rome, 1996

This book contains the specific teaching of Pope John Paul II concerning the Indian Church from the time of his election to the apostolic see of St Peter until the publication of this book in 1996 (the Pope died only in 2005). My introductory article, “The Catholic Church in India” is omitted, because my scholarly work with the same title is now available on this site. The first two parts of this book present the discourses of Pope John Paul II to the bishops of the Syro-Malabar and Syro-Malankara bishops, as well as to the bishops of the Latin Church on the occasion of their ad limina visits. The third part is dedicated to the important discourses of the Holy Father during his pastoral visit to India in February 1986. The fourth and fifth sections provide some important letters, constitutions and decrees of the Pope concerning the Indian Church.

'Social Dimension' in Christian Mission: An Appraisal of Social Mission of the Church in India

International Journal of Research and Innovation of Social Science, 2024

The social dimension of the Christian mission played a vital role in the mission of the church. This has to do with uplifting the poor, eradicating social evil, reflecting fraternity, bringing social justice, seeing the progress of better humanity, peace, unity, etc. With the arrival of colonial rule in India, the mission of the church appeared to be engaged in so many social activities. Foreign missionaries arrived with their strategy, but with the pressure of colonial rulers in India, they could have achieved exactly what the mission of the church was supposed to be. However, an attempt to strengthen society is always as appreciable as service to God in favour of human beings. In the present era, the social dimension has gone down in the mission of the church. Therefore, it is important to research for better humanity when one thinks of the service of the church. Even amid difficulties in the church, social division is seen as a service to God. Here I appeal for continuing the social acts in Indian society in service of God as a reflection of the true mission of church. For this article, I have used the technique of socio-historic analysis in an ethno-religious approach.