By Matters India Reporter
Bengaluru, April 25, 2019: India’s Catholic theologians on April 25 assembled in Bengaluru to analyze the current situation in the country and evolve relevant responses to help the Church address modern problems.
The 42 annual meeting of the Indian Theological Association (ITA) at the National Biblical Catechetical and Liturgical Centre addressed the theme, “Whither India.”
“Upholding democratic values and the secular fabric of our Indian Constitution is paramount. The ITA seminar to create awareness for people, civil society and entire Indian polity is timely,” says Father Udayanath Bishoyi, a visiting professor at Morning Star Regional Seminary, Calcutta, and a participant.
The Cuttack-Bhubaneswar archdiocese priest is among 74 women and men theologians from various parts of India attending the April 25-28 event.
The association was founded in 1976 to promote the development of an Indian Christian theology.
The ITA often reflects the trajectory of the Indian Church and society, Father Bishoyi said. It was founded as an open forum of Catholic theologians of India to engage in theological discourses and help develop an Indian and Asian Christian theology that embodies the struggles and hopes of the people in the region.
It fosters research in religion and society and empowers Indian theologians to do contextual theological discourses in Asian paradigms and praxes in the wider global scenario.
The ITA is an inclusive platform in the sense that scholars, social activists, thinkers, religious leaders of all faiths are participants and partners in the sadhana of developing an Indian/Asian theology so that Jesus’ Gospel of “Fullness of Life” (Jn 10:10) gets ‘roots’ and ‘wings’ in the Asian journey towards the Reign of God.
ITA has a band of committed theologians and thus is the organic realization of the aforesaid various movements. In the course of time, the vision of ITA had been a catalyst for initiating the movements like “Model Village” (1990) and “Socio-Religious Research Centre” (2001).