Conference to study Catholic contribution to India

Bhubaneswar (Matters India)—A Vatican Pontifical office in collaboration with Indian church institute to hold a conference on the Catholic Contribution to the Indian History, Society and Culture.

The theme of the workshop is “Society and Culture with special reference to the 19th and 20th Centuries.”

The July 24 -25, workshop will be held at Dharmaram Vidya Kshetram, (DVK, garden of virtues knowledge temple), a Pontifical Athenaeum for philosophy, theology and Canon Law, in Bangalore, southern India in partnership with Pontifical Committee for Historical Science, Rome.

Archbishop Mar Joseph Perumthottam of Changanacherry, Dr. Bernard Ardura, OPraem, President of Pontificial Committee for Historical Sciences, Rome, among others who would attend the conference.

Christianity in India is as old as Christian religion. Although the total Christian population in India is only 2.5%, Christian religion has contributed substantially to the nation building, especially in the field of education, commitment to the social causes, preservation of native cultures, development of languages and literature.

This national conference is a humble attempt to bring together the Catholic historians in India to reflect on the contribution of the Catholic Church to India, especially during the 19th and 20th centuries, said Father Francis Thonippara, CMI, an organiser.

The workshop also focuses on the importance of the preservation of documents, the usefulness of the interdisciplinary approach in writing and studying the history by making use of Archaeology, Anthropology and archival sources, he added.

Since for the first time the Indian Catholic historian come together, the workshop provides a platform for discussing the role of the Catholic historians in the changing socio-political scenario of India.

About 17 scholarly papers covering different areas of Catholic contribution in the nation building will be presented.

The subtopics include: problems of preservation and conservation of religious archival sources in India today; archaeology as source for the study of history; Indian Catholic historiography; Portuguese contribution to Architecture in Goa and Kerala; the importance of Christian Art in Idnia, ethnology of Syrian Catholics after 1926; Christians and nation building : an historical overview; Catholic education: an overview of its influence on Indian society; women education and Jesus and Mary Congregation in India; Catholic contribution to Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry in the field of education; the catholic church in North-East India; a socio-historical profile; Santals in transition; the contribution of Maltese Jesuits; engaged to empower the historical sketch of Christianity in Orissa; Mangalorean Catholics and Tipu’s captivity; contribution of the Catholic clergy to the church and state of Kerala; formation of priests for the ministry in India as it was envisaged by the western missionaries in the 19th and 20th centuries: a historical perspective and Archbishop Mar Ivanios as a missionary: the influence of Serampore years.

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