Radical theologians to meet in Kenya before World Social Forum
-06/07/06
In recent year
Radical theologians to meet in Kenya before World Social Forum
-06/07/06
In recent years the word ëradicalí has become a by-word for extremism when it comes to religion ñ with the term being used to denote everything from the Christian right in the United States through to militant Islamism.
But next year theologians whose concern is for the flourishing of people and planet and for practical ecumenism in a world dominated by oppression and violence will meet in Kenya, the week before the World Social Forum.
They will emphasise that the word radical actually refers to the ërootednessí which is needed to tackle change at the frontiers of life.
The Second World Forum on Theology and Liberation will take place in Nairobi from 16-19 January 2007, hosted by the Carmelite Fathers, a Catholic religious order. The venue is near Tangaza College.
The Forum brings together Christian theologians from six continents (150 from Africa and 50 from the other parts of the world) who favour radical change ñ but by life-enhancing means. Protestants, Catholics, Anglicans, Orthodox and independents will participate, many from the grassroots rather than from church hierarchies.
ëLiberating theologiesí (as they are often now called) exist across Africa, Asia, Latin America and in the Caribbean have been trying to help people increase their self-esteem, their literacy level, their social-community organization, as well as their cultural, economic, and political associations.
The ëfatherí of liberation theology in the 1970s, its heyday, is Gustavo Gutierrez. The movement was strongly associated with broad leftist movements such as the Sandinistas in Nicaragua in the 1980s, and with the development of small Christian communities based on a radical reading of the Bible.
More recently there has been an increasing interest in ecology and non-violence among those influenced by the movement, and a critique of the assumptions of the traditional left, with which liberation theology always sought alliances.
The president of the World Forum on Theology and Liberation is Sergio Torres, a Catholic theologian from Chile. The general secretary is Luis Carlos Susin (Capucin Father) from Brazil. The forum’s general secretariat is at Porto Alegre (Brazil) ñ which was also the venue of the most recent World Council of Churches assembly.
In Britain the Methodist-based Urban Theology Unit in Sheffield has been associated with liberation theology, and a diverse bi-annual gathering of practitioners has taken place in Crewe over the last 15 years. The next meeting is scheduled for October 2006.
Liberation theologyís critics have often accused the movement of being an accommodation or annexation of the Christian message to Marxism, something its proponents vehemently deny ñ pointing to its traditionally biblical roots, its deep spirituality of change, and its critical approach to ideology.
The World Social Forum, which the Nairobi theological gathering will feed into, is a periodic grassroots assembly of social and ecological movements campaigning against neo-liberal globalisation and for the global development of humane and sustainable alternatives.
[Also on Ekklesia: Meaning of life is 92, say Christians; Liberation Theology (book);
British Christians to make ‘liberating connections’; Christian scholars gather to study dangers of Zionism; Palestinian priest to receive Episcopal Peace Fellowship prize; Sacred Longings: Ecofeminist Theology and Globalisation (book); Christmas story is God’s message of defiance says Palestinian liberation theologian; Christian aid agency attacked over Church’s disinvestment decision; Faith just isn’t in the jeans for Polish Church; Jesuits to discuss Church-State relations in the EU; Theologians appeal for critics of late Pope to come forward; Theological Studies (books and papers); Gospel requires justice not charity, says Jesuit writer]
Radical theologians to meet in Kenya before World Social Forum
-06/07/06
In recent years the word ëradicalí has become a by-word for extremism when it comes to religion ñ with the term being used to denote everything from the Christian right in the United States through to militant Islamism.
But next year theologians whose concern is for the flourishing of people and planet and for practical ecumenism in a world dominated by oppression and violence will meet in Kenya, the week before the World Social Forum.
They will emphasise that the word radical actually refers to the ërootednessí which is needed to tackle change at the frontiers of life.
The Second World Forum on Theology and Liberation will take place in Nairobi from 16-19 January 2007, hosted by the Carmelite Fathers, a Catholic religious order. The venue is near Tangaza College.
The Forum brings together Christian theologians from six continents (150 from Africa and 50 from the other parts of the world) who favour radical change ñ but by life-enhancing means. Protestants, Catholics, Anglicans, Orthodox and independents will participate, many from the grassroots rather than from church hierarchies.
ëLiberating theologiesí (as they are often now called) exist across Africa, Asia, Latin America and in the Caribbean have been trying to help people increase their self-esteem, their literacy level, their social-community organization, as well as their cultural, economic, and political associations.
The ëfatherí of liberation theology in the 1970s, its heyday, is Gustavo Gutierrez. The movement was strongly associated with broad leftist movements such as the Sandinistas in Nicaragua in the 1980s, and with the development of small Christian communities based on a radical reading of the Bible.
More recently there has been an increasing interest in ecology and non-violence among those influenced by the movement, and a critique of the assumptions of the traditional left, with which liberation theology always sought alliances.
The president of the World Forum on Theology and Liberation is Sergio Torres, a Catholic theologian from Chile. The general secretary is Luis Carlos Susin (Capucin Father) from Brazil. The forum’s general secretariat is at Porto Alegre (Brazil) ñ which was also the venue of the most recent World Council of Churches assembly.
In Britain the Methodist-based Urban Theology Unit in Sheffield has been associated with liberation theology, and a diverse bi-annual gathering of practitioners has taken place in Crewe over the last 15 years. The next meeting is scheduled for October 2006.
Liberation theologyís critics have often accused the movement of being an accommodation or annexation of the Christian message to Marxism, something its proponents vehemently deny ñ pointing to its traditionally biblical roots, its deep spirituality of change, and its critical approach to ideology.
The World Social Forum, which the Nairobi theological gathering will feed into, is a periodic grassroots assembly of social and ecological movements campaigning against neo-liberal globalisation and for the global development of humane and sustainable alternatives.
[Also on Ekklesia: Meaning of life is 92, say Christians; Liberation Theology (book);
British Christians to make ‘liberating connections’; Christian scholars gather to study dangers of Zionism; Palestinian priest to receive Episcopal Peace Fellowship prize; Sacred Longings: Ecofeminist Theology and Globalisation (book); Christmas story is God’s message of defiance says Palestinian liberation theologian; Christian aid agency attacked over Church’s disinvestment decision; Faith just isn’t in the jeans for Polish Church; Jesuits to discuss Church-State relations in the EU; Theologians appeal for critics of late Pope to come forward; Theological Studies (books and papers); Gospel requires justice not charity, says Jesuit writer]