National Seminar on The Role of Religion and Culture in Social Tranformation held

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangalore, Nov 23: Dr Michael Tharakan, vice-chancellor of Kannur University inaugurated a national seminar on the theme ‘Sebastian Kappen and The Role of Religion and Culture in Social Tranformation’ at Jyothi Nivas Hall, Shanthi Kiran on Tuesday November 23.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The function was organised under the joint aegis of Mangalore University, Mangalore Diocesan Chair in Christianity, Social Justice Forum, Mangalore and Catholic Priests’ Conference of India

Born in a traditional family of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, Kappen entered the Society of Jesus at the age of 20 (in 1944), and was ordained priest on the 24 March 1957. He pursued studies at the Gregorian University (Rome), obtaining a doctorate in Theology (1961) with a thesis on Religious Alienation and Praxis according to Marx’s Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844. This was a time when Marxism was growing in influence in his home state of Kerala, in India. Sebastian Kappen was a well-known thinker, writer and social activist who has made substantial contribution towards evolving perspectives on culture and development. He has inspired many in the field of social action in South India.

Speaking after inaugurating the seminar Dr Michael Tharakan said that ‘Sebastian Kappen highlighted the need to harness the resources of religion and culture to the task of social transformation. His bold and original path of rethinking, his breaking of conceptual taboos and his rejection of inherited schemata make him an indispensable guide for those grappling with the question of the role of religion and culture in social transformation. His subsequent studies have been geared to the requirements of transformative social action in India. This led him to an investigation into the liberative and humanizing potential of the original teaching of the historical Jesus as well as of Indian religious traditions, particularly the tradition of dissent represented by the Buddha and medieval Bhakti movement. He has written and lectured extensively on the cultural prerequisites for the radical restructuring of Indian Society, he added.

Dr Jacob Parappally delivered the keynote address. Fr Joseph Lobo spoke on the theological legacy of Fr Sebastian Kappen. and Dr X D Selvaraj, Tuticorin, gave a lecture on role of culture in social transformation on the occasion.