By Matters India Reporter
Kolkata, Feb 17, 2019: A three-day symposium on Evangelization in South Asia since “Maximum Illud” concluded at Kolkata on February 16.
“Baptised and Sent: The Church of Christ on Mission in the World” was the theme of the symposium organized by Morning Star College, Barrackpore, and St. Xavier’s University. The Vatican Congregation for the Evangelisation of the Peoples and Pontifical Mission Societies promoted the event.
The symposium was organized in view of Pope Francis’ call for “an Extraordinary Missionary Month” to be celebrated in October this year. It aims to increase awareness of the Missio ad Gentes and take up with renewed fervor the missionary transformation of the Church’s life and pastoral activity, said Fr. D. John Romus, symposium coordinator.
The symposium marked the centenary of Maximum Illud, the historic encyclical of Pope Benedict XV on the modern concept of evangelization as referred to in the Vatican’s centenary directive, said Fr. Romus, Professor Emeritus of Morning Star College.
Evangelization has been the flagship of Christianity in most countries of South Asia since the publication of the encyclical Maximum Illud, the priest explained.
The growth and expansion, the vitality and credibility of the Christian communities in the region have been linked with the way the Churches have negotiated with the wider national issues, he added.
They include the socio-political and cultural processes of colonisation and decolonisation, modernisation, democratisation, identity construction of social groups in terms of caste and communities, affirmation of subaltern social groups such as the Dalit and Tribal communities, multicultural and multi-religious realities of the nations, and the need arising from within the Church for indigenization and localization of ecclesial leadership, he further explained.
“A scholarly documentation of the missionary movements of the last century in this region is rather lacking. A comprehensive research on these matters will be a significant centenary contribution for understanding Christianity in this region and will be an invaluable resource for missionary formation and pastoral action,” Fr. Romus said.
Hence, the symposium explored and analyzed the South Asian Christianity in its multifarious expressions, including worship, theology, spirituality, and innovative pastoral and missiological paradigms developed in this region in the last century.
The symposium highlighted means and methods of evangelization for invigorating ecclesial life and ministry as well as for making the Gospel relevant to contemporary South Asian scenario.
This is to help the Gospel become a proactive agency to South Asia’s vibrant cultures, faith traditions, socio-political, economic and ecological concerns as said in Evangelii Gaudium, the Apostolic Exhortation of Pope Francis, said Fr. J. A. Santhanam, rector of Morning Star College.
Fr. Dr. Felix Wilfred, a noted theologian, gave a key-note address on “Evangelization in the South Asia Today and Tomorrow.”
Speakers who addressed they symposium included Jesuit Fathers Leonard Fernando P.R. John, Louis Montfort Prakash, Sudhir Kujur, and Lalit Premlal Tirkey.
Others were Redemptorist Father Vimal Thirimanne, Fransalian Father Jacob Parapally, Father Sagaya John, Bishop Sarat Chandra Nayak of Berhampur (Odisha), Archbishop Anil Joseph T. Couto of Delhi, Cluny Sister Martina Josephine, Charlotte Simpson Veigas, Presentation Sister Shalini Mulackal, Benedictine Father Jerome Naduvathaniyil, Indian Missionary Society Father Jerome Sylvester, Bishop Paul Simick of Nepal, Leo Jalais, and Immaculate Heart of Mary Sister Christin Mary.
Lay people S.A. Stanislaus Devotta from Sri Lanka, Chito Francis Rebeiro from Bangladesh and Eugene Gonsalves from India also addressed the meet.
Missionaries of St Thomas Father M.D. Thomas spoke on Hinduism, Oblate Bishop Bejoy N. D’Cruze on Islam and Marsel Fernando on Buddhism as part of the Church’s dialogue with major faith communities.
The symposium ended with an open forum on common South Asian mission concerns for future study and possible pastoral cooperation.