By Matters India Reporters
Mumbai: Pope Francis has appointed Divine Word Father Sebastian Maria Michael, a noted sociologist and writer, as a consulter of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue.
Father Michael is the director of the Commission for Interreligious Dialogue of the Archdiocese of Bombay.
He is a professor at the Department of Sociology, University of Mumbai, and honorary director, Institute of Indian Culture, Mumbai.
The priest is a member of the visiting faculty at the Anthropos Institute, Bonn, and Magdeburg University, both in Germany.
He is a visiting faculty to several seminaries and institutes of higher learning including at Jnana-Deepa Vidyapeeth, a pontifical institute of Philosophy and religion in Pune, western India, and Morning Star College, Kolkata.
Father Michael is a member of the Southern Indian Province of Divine Word Missionary congregation.
He was the zonal coordinator of Divine Word Missionary for the Asia-Pacific Zone. He conducts seminars for clergy, nuns and laity on interculturality.
Some of his published books include “The Cultural Context of Evangelization in India” (1980), “Anthropology as a Historical Science: Essays in Honour of Stephen Fuchs” (co-edited, 1984), “Culture & Urbanization” (1989), “Anthropology of Conversion in India” (1998), “Culture and Nationalism: Clarifying the Cultural Reality of India” (co-edited with Leela D’Souza and Rowena Robinson, 2000), “Globalization and Social Movements: Struggle for a Humane Society” (co-edited, 2003), “Communal Harmony, Secularism and Nation Building (2005).
He has published about 60 articles in national and international journals.
The October 22 appointment is for a five-year term. The new consulters hail from different countries comprising of bishops, clergy, nuns and laity.
The other consulters of the Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue come from Cambodia, Chile, Japan, Italy, the United States of America, Singapore and Taiwan.
In 1964, Pope Paul VI instituted a special department of the Roman Curia for relations with the people of other religions.
At first, it was known as the Secretariat for Non-Christians. In 1988, it was renamed the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue (PCID).
The PCID is the central office of the Catholic Church for the promotion of interreligious dialogue in accordance with the spirit of the Second Vatican Council.
It has a responsibility to promote mutual understanding, respect and collaboration between Catholics and the followers of others religious traditions.
It also encourages the study of religions and promotes the formation of persons dedicated to dialogue.
Congrats to my classmate from Juniorate at Palda (Indore) to Philosophy & theology courses at JDV Pune & a close associate, Fr. Michael, on your appointment as a consul tor of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue. U deserve this recognition. Do well. God bless ur commitments.
Fr. Freddie Santhumayor SVD
Congratulations, dear Fr. Michael. Great to hear the good news. On the same team, as a consul tor of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue, is another Indian Jesuit Fr. Brian Lobo S.J., Mumbai province of the Society of Jesus who at present is the Dean of the Faculty of Missiology at Gregorian University, Rome.
Congratulations fr. Our prayers and best wishes go with you. Wish you all the best
Congratulations fr. Our prayers and best wishes go with you.
Congratulations! The conversation of Fritjof Capra with David Steindal-Rast and Thomas Matus, ‘ Belonging to the Universe’, the work of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, ‘The Phenomenon of Man’, the work of Zachary Karabell, ‘The People of the Book’, and the work of many more people longing for intra-religious harmony and inter-religious
harmony, hopefully would find a day.
Wish you all the best.
Congrats.
Expect some real things happening through this Commission.
Congratulations and Best of Best wishes to SVD Priest Sebastian Maria Michael of Mumbai on his appointment to Inter Religious Ministry in the Catholic Church
We wish him and his team BEST OF BEST of Divine Aid
Richly deserves this post. Very knowledgeable and higly respected by peoplepof other religions II hav heard him a number of times. Highly impressed by his simplicity, in spite of his reputation.
Congratulations to SVD community for the appointment of reverend Sebastian as cardinal for Interreligious dialogue.
The cardinal is well qualified for the post looking after his experience in that important field.
I hope he and his team bring about a change in world religion and make love and peace for all creation a priority.
Congratulations Fr. Michael as you are appointed as a consulter of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue. Our prayers and best wishes go with you.