ITA delegates address challenges of religious nationalism

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Bengaluru, April 29, 2018: The members of Indian Theological Association (ITA) are current meeting in Bengaluru to seek a theological response to the challenges of religious nationalism in the country.

The 41st annual meet and seminar of the association Teachers of Christian theology from various parts of India are attending the April 26-29 conference at Dharmaram Vidya Kshetram, Pontifical Athenaeum of Theology, Philosophy and Canon Law.

Father Udayanath Bishoyi, a visiting professor at Morning Star Regional Seminary, Calcutta, and a participant, told media that the association has in the past 41 years striven to live its “prophetic call and leave a mark not just on the theological landscape of the Indian Church, but also on the Universal Church, through its commitment and dedication to theologizing in the Indian context.

The association was founded in 1976 to promote the development of an Indian Christian theology.

The theme chosen for the 41st annual meeting is “Challenges of Religious Nationalism in India: A Theological Response.”

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).