ASIA Theologian Says Asian Christians Need To Create Larger Community Beyond Church Boundaries

Posted: 26th January 2005

PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil (UCAN): Asian Christians need to create a larger community beyond traditional Church boundaries, Indian Father Felix Wilfred has told an international theological forum.

"The prophetic power of Asian Christianity is commensurate to its ability to root itself deeply in the soil," which the Western Christian mission in the past forgot, Father Wilfred said in a presentation to 300 people.

"Theology for Another Possible World" was the theme of the first World Forum on Theology and Liberation. The Jan. 21-25 event in Porto Alegre, Brazil, was organized as a prelude to the fifth World Social Forum, scheduled there Jan. 26-31.

In his presentation, Father Wilfred said Asian progressive theologies share several common perspectives: emergence of a subaltern perspective in theologizing, critical and feminist perspectives, and theology of religions.

He said Minjung (common people) theology in Korea, dalit (former untouchables) theology in India and tribal and indigenous theologies in different parts of Asia document an emerging perspective within theology that challenges what has become mainline theology.
Observing the significance in Asia of theology of religions, Father Wilfred said the practice of dialogue and liberation need to relate intimately with each other. He suggested that Asian theological method must be contextual, inter-disciplinary and interreligious.

"The relevance and significance of emerging Asian theologies will depend upon the extent they are able to respond to the Asian quest at all levels," he concluded.

In another presentation at the forum, American Dwight Hopkins, who works in the areas of contemporary models of theology, black theology, and liberation theologies, described neo-conservative, liberal and prophetic models of theology.

Neo-conservative theologians, he said, they have contributed to the public sense that the United States is the "best" and that "now is the time to pursue a global strategy where U.S. politics, economics, culture, and religion become the norm around the world."

Prophetic theology currently is small and weak, according to Hopkins. But it could be a force at the grassroots level through international networking among people who believe "another world is possible," he said, borrowing the motto of the World Social Forum.

During the theology forum's opening ceremony, organizers emphasized that religion should not be used as a reason or weapon to justify war or aggression. Instead, it should be a messenger of hope for the oppressed, they said. Various theologians expressed their hope that the theology forum would spark a renewal of liberation theology against the negative effects of globalization.

In a congratulatory message the Association of Major Superiors of Religious Men and Women in Latin America said, "The dragon that we have to face is not so big and hope is still going forward." The message affirmed liberation theology as a tool for hope and liberation.

The forum, co-hosted by the superiors' association and the National Council of Churches of Brazil, took place at Pontifical Catholic University do Rio Grande do Sul.

Franciscan Cardinal Aloisio Leo Arlindo Lorscheider, retired archbishop of Aparecida, Brazil, Archbishop Dadeus Grings of Porto Alegre and Reverend Walter Altmann, president of the Evangelical Church of the Lutheran Confession of Brazil, were among participating Church leaders.

Asian theologians who served as resource persons included Immaculate Heart of Mary Sister Emelina Villegas of the Philippines, Father Wilfred and Jesuit Father Michael Amaladoss from India, and Oblate Father Tissa Balasuriya from Sri Lanka. Feminist theologian Chung Hyung-kyung, an ethnic Korean from the United States, was another resource person.

Around 300 theologians and other members of various Christian denominations took part in the forum first proposed by Leonardo Boff in 2003. Boff, a former Franciscan priest and noted Brazilian scholar on liberation theology, was inspired by the success of the World Social Forum.

The World Social Forum was first held in 1999 in Brazil and is a platform for various organizations that oppose globalization. The annual forum meetings all have been held in Brazil except the 2004 gathering in India.

Article Source: UCANEWS