Indian theologians discuss culture, mission

The meeting discussed the theme: Call for a New Theology of Culture - Revisiting the Mission Praxes and Paradigms.

Chennai:  Archbishop George Antonysamy of Madras-Mylapore has asked Indian theologians to suggest ways to put into pastoral practice the inculturisation initiatives made by Christian communities across the nation.

The archbishop was opening the four-day annual meeting and conference of Indian Theological Association Oct. 23 at Dhyana Ashram, Chennai. The meeting discussed the theme: Call for a New Theology of Culture - Revisiting the Mission Praxes and Paradigms.

Association president Father Antony Kaliath in his presidential address highlighted the need to explore a new theology of culture for the local as well as the global church.

Faithful to the contextual method, the conference entered into the rigorous exercise of theologising with a panel discussion on befriending us with the various cultural contexts of our country.

Noted author and activist Ms Bama shared her experience on Dalit culture: the co-ordinate of the Indian culture, Mr. Sundarajan of Poovulagin Nandbargal spoke about the cultural implications for the ecological crisis. Feminist profile for a relevant theology of culture was shared by Dr. Kochurani, MG University, Kottayam and Dr. S. Basumatary, Gurukal, Chennai gave us the tribal cultural inputs for the emergence of an effective Christian theology.

A critical analysis of the context was presented by Prof. A. Marx, Human Rights’ Activist, with a scholarly paper on the cultural discourses in the contemporary post-modern world and Fr. Rudy Heredia S.J., Mumbai enlightened the participants with his critical analysis of the role of religion in the civil society.

The second part of the conference indulged in the search for the biblical and theological insights with papers on Interplay Between Culture and Religion by Fr. Vincent Kundukulam of St. Joseph’s Seminary in Alwaye and The Biblical Revelation - A Cultural Discourse by Fr. Joy Kakkanattu, Dharmaram, Bengaluru. Fr. Gnana Patrick, Madras University presented a paper on Jesus' Gospel: Seeds of a Public Theology of Culture for Today.

The meet also various issues related to the theme. Theological insights were culled out and summed up for statement, which will be issued later.

Press Release