Innovative Interreligious Initiatives aligned with UAPs

The Universal Apostolic Preferences (UAPs) recently promulgated by Fr. Arturo Sosa, the General of the

Jesuits, can be summarized in brief as follows:

1. Spirituality 2. Walk with the Poor 3. Accompany Youth 4. Care of the Earth

It was a pleasant surprise to note that at the Department of Interreligious Studies (DIRS) of St. Xavier’s

College, Mumbai these preferences were being fulfilled. A few of the activities of the past five years

related to the UAPs have been highlighted below.

Right from the start after taking over the DIRS in 2014 together with a team of interested students we

decided that in tune with the changing times something “out of the box” is the need of the hour. This

innovative mindset was predominant in discerning the choice of programmes, their implementation and

evaluation. Quite a few students expressed their atheistic inclinations and seemed least interested in

religion leave aside dialogue between religions. When I raised the question about what would be a

common cause for which we could work together the obvious choice was to save the planet.

1 DIRS logo

In the course of time we gradually articulated our vision as “Cocreate Cosmic Compassion”. Compassion

is common to all religious traditions. Cosmic compassion embraces all of creation including humans. We

became aware of our calling to foster integral ecology in response to the cry of Mother Earth and the

poor. Hence our mission is collaboration as co-creators of a harmonious universe. This integral vision

and mission included faith, justice, inculturation, interreligious dialogue and ecology, the major thrusts

of the Society of Jesus since the 1970s. The Integral Pedagogical Paradigm (IPP) of context, experience,

reflection, action, evaluation was followed as far as possible for most of the programmes like courses,

exposure visits, interfaith prayer services etc.

2 Ignatian Pedagogical Paradigm (IPP)

In his Encyclical Laudato Si Pope Francis advocated for an Integral Ecology in response to the cry of the

earth and the cry of the poor.

“We are faced not with two separate crises, one environmental and the other social, but rather with one

complex crisis which is both social and environmental. Strategies for a solution demand an integrated

approach to combating poverty, restoring dignity to the excluded, and at the same time protecting

nature” (no.139).

Hence UAPs 2 and 4 are treated together as one below under the title of Integral Ecology. These are not

hard and fast exclusive groupings as there is a natural flow from one to the other. Most of the activities

are connected with one or more of the UAPs. The spirituality communicated is integral and holistic

rather than a fragmented, compartmentalized one and pervades all the UAPs. The Ignatian world view

as expressed in the key meditations of the Spiritual Exercises like Principal and Foundation, Two

Standards and Contemplation to Attain Love served as the implicit backdrop for the various

programmes. The students were trained to be contemplative in action and to find God in all things.

Interfaith Spirituality (UAP 1)

3 Interfaith Prayer Service

Since there is a large number of students and staff from diverse faiths the approach to spirituality

adopted is integral and interfaith. Rather than be Catholic that tends to be restrictive, we opted for an

inclusive “catholic” or universal approach in which the whole universe was included. The inaugural

InterFaith services and Masses on 31 July and 3 Dec. from 2015 onwards were jointly organized by the

AICUF (All India Catholic University Federation) and the DIRS. The active participation of students and

staff (both teaching and working) in the various prayers, sharing of experiences, singing of action songs

etc was laudable. For instance, for one of the Interfaith services on the theme of “Inclusion” the sharing

by a visually challenged student, a transgender student and a tribal student was remarkable. The themes

chosen integrated issues of local, national, global and cosmic relevance.

4 Ash Wednesday Mass

The Ash Wednesday service at the start of the Lenten season of Reconciliation highlighted the fact that

we are stardust and to stardust we will return. “The stars were compassionate enough to explode and

die so that we could be born as stars today” this quote on the backdrop in the chapel heightened the

sense of interconnectedness.

5 Joy of Self Discovery

The ‘Joy of Self Discovery’ Honours courses, which were held in a spiritual atmosphere, focused

primarily on self-awareness through embodied meditation and sharing in a compassionate community.

The participants were particularly touched by the exposure visit to places like the slums or Asha Daan (a

home for the destitute run by the nuns of Mother Teresa) which opened up unexplored areas of the

psyche. From the initial shock and repulsion at the apparently inhuman state of the patients to feeling

accepted and trusted by them led to a painful, precarious and precious inward journey to come to terms

with vulnerability of the other and self.

6 Art of Peace and Playog

The weekly Art of Peace sessions were great stress busters and helped the participants to slow down

and regain equilibrium in the midst of the hectic pace of education. The monthly Playog sessions put the

students in touch with their innate body wisdom and helped for a wholesome integration of mind,

heart, body and spirit.

7 World Peace Day 2018

For the first time in 2015 there was a common eco-friendly triple celebration of Ganapati, Bakri Id and

World Peace Day. It has now become a regular practice to celebrate the annual World Peace Day in

collaboration with AICUF, Social Service League, Xavier Institute of Communication and United Religions

Initiative. This signaled a major breakthrough in the area of collaboration as the various departments

normally tend to function like independent compartments without much interaction with other

departments.

Integral Ecology (UAPs 2 and 4)

8 Cry of the Earth, Cry of the Poor

The Director of Xavier Institute of Social Research (XISR) Fr. Anthony Dias SJ (Social Action), Dr. Orla

Hazra (Ecology), and Fr. Prashant Olalekar SJ (Spirituality) conducted a ‘Be The Dream: Awaken to

Cosmic Compassion’” Honours Course in 2014, which began with an exposure program to the nomadic

Pardhi tribes and transgender persons at Reay Road slum opposite a garbage dump.

9 Awaken to Cosmic Compassion

Prashant in collaboration with Dr. Orla Hazra and Ms Candice Menezes conducted a similar course in

2015, as well as the year-long special classes on ‘Environment’ and ‘Giving Voice to Values’ for the FYBA

students in 2015-2016.

10 Cosmic Hug

This Ecology course was renamed as ‘Cosmic Hug’ in 2017 and was facilitated by Neesha Noronha and

Prashant. Spiritual dialogue with the plants during the Nature Walk and grateful awareness for the

various parts of the body during the ‘Body Blessing’ meditation awakened an awareness of the universe

around and the universe within. The star gazing meditation was a big hit as most have neither the time

nor the space in Mumbai to watch stars besides the Bollywood ones. In 2018 before the course Prashant

took the participants for an initial exposure visit to a village in Dahanu area where the Kashtakari

Sanghatana are enjoying a unique form of village governance after being displaced by a dam thanks to

their founder Dr. Pradip Prabhu who helped to draft the Forest Act for the government.

Sr. Pat Siemen OP, Director, Centre for Earth Jurisprudence, USA teamed up with Orla and Prashant in

2016 to facilitate “Earth Democracy” workshops at St. Andrew’s college, St. Pius X seminary in

Goregaon, Wilson’s college and St. Xavier’s college. A humorous skit demonstrating the rest of the

species voting humans out of the planet dramatically brought home the message of human blindness to

the consequences of their disastrous behavior.

11 Big History Conference (Pune)

‘The Big Story of Integral Ecology’, the first Big History conference in India, was held in collaboration

with the Heras institute in November 2017 followed by workshops for the archdiocese and the Jesuit

Educational Association of South Asia (West Zone) staff of schools and colleges. This led to invitations in

India and the USA too. Jahnavi Pandya, who won the best student award in 2018, and Prashant

presented the meditations at the start and conclusion of the International Big History conference at

Villanova University, USA.

12 Cosmic Crib

In keeping with the vision of DIRS the Christmas crib was presented as a Cosmic Crib in which themes

related to the cry of the Earth and the poor were chosen to depict the birth of Jesus Christ in a cosmic

context.

13 Jesuit National Tribal Festival

A group from DIRS participated in the Jesuit national tribal festivals (JEMAI) held at Gujarat in 2014 and

Ranchi in 2015. Tribal traditions are an important part of our common Indian religious heritage. Ours

was the only non-tribal group welcomed as part of the tribal family. The discussions touched on burning

issues like the rape of the earth and assault on tribal values and culture by rapid development.

14 Digital Morcha for Climate Justice 2015

A major ‘out of the box’ event was the ‘Digital Morcha for Climate Justice’ held on the occasion of the

COP 21 meeting in 2015 of international leaders in Paris to take action on Climate Change.

15 A Peasant of El Salvador

Among the many events that the AICUF and DIRS organized jointly was the play ‘A Peasant of El

Salvador’ followed by a discussion on 22 Nov. 2014 to commemorate the silver jubilee of the Jesuit

martyrs of El Salvador. How do we develop the perspective of the poor and become a voice for the

voiceless? Are we ready to pay the price? The prophetic questions that arose in the ensuing discussion

disturbed the conscience of the audience on issues like farmer suicide and the prophetic role of

education.

16 Behrampada Slum Visit: Perspective of the Poor

The exposure visit on 28 February 2018 to Behrampada slum, Bandra, a Muslim ghetto formed after the

Godhra riots, was a live demonstration of the economic, social, political and ecological degradation that

the vast majority on the margins have to live with. On the one hand there is the posh Bandra Kurla

Complex, the pride of Mumbai’s development drive, and the flyover overhead leading to the airport,

and on the other hand in the underbelly, as it were, vulnerable slum dwellers are dumped like garbage

with a stinking sewer flowing through the slum. Playful interaction with them dramatically altered the

mood and helped to build bridges of compassion and solidarity. The courage and resilience of the

empowered Muslim women, who won the court case for the entry of women into the Haji Ali mosque,

provided a powerful lesson in fighting for justice against all odds.

A group of students also visited Mahul on 1 March 2019, commonly known as the gas chambers of

Mumbai, where those displaced by the metro work at Vidyavihar have been rehabilitated in a humanly

uninhabitable site. They also visited Vidyavihar where street protests are still going on.

Such exposure visits raise disturbing questions about development for whom and at what cost to the

poor and the environment. This type of learning makes a much bigger impact than classroom lectures.

These visits were organized just before the exams without the usual incentives like credits or marks. The

impact on these highly committed students was incredible. They were shocked and stunned by the wide

chasm between the rich and the poor, the privileged and underprivileged, the attractive promises of

government and the depressing reality. The learning was profound and liberative. As Jean Vanier puts it

“God has chosen the weak to confound those closed up in their heads.”

17 Voting 101: Civic Formation

In a unique Honours course called Voting 101 through 7 informative and practical sessions on the harsh

realities of democracy the students were thoroughly prepared to vote for the elections. Inputs by

renowned activists like Fr. Cedric Prakash SJ, a provocative film screening on ‘Newton’, the visit to the

State Election Commission, and creative presentation of insights made this project of civic formation a

transformative learning experience.

Interreligious Dialogue (UAP 1 and 2)

The General’s letter draws attention to a “faith that enters into dialogue with other religions and all

cultures.” Such an enlightened faith can help to counter fundamentalism and safeguard democracy.

Among the several other courses that would fit into the traditional category of interreligious dialogue

only a few have been included below.

18 The LGBT Lens on Religion

Lakshmi Tripathi, the first transgender Indian who had addressed the UN, enlightened the college

students in 2015 on “Religion: Oppressive or Liberative for LGBT”? When asked about the cause for the

chaotic situation in the country she promptly retorted, “The political and religious leaders are all

assholes.” An unconventional reply from an unconventional person of an unconventional gender that

belongs to the excluded category.

19 InterFaith Couples

Dr. Astrid Lobo Gajiwala’s initiative to gather a few Catholic women together whose husbands belong to

other faiths, for a couple of sessions in 2014, resulted in raising a few significant theological questions

on the church’s need to update its theology of mission in a pluralistic world. Astrid’s final report

prepared with the help of Fr. Errol D’Lima was used by Cardinal Oswald Gracias for his presentation at

the ‘Extraordinary Synod on the Family’ held in Rome in 2014. This report was published in the Dec.

2014 issue of VidyaJyoti journal, Delhi.

20 To Be Religious Is To Be Interreligious

The panel discussion on “To Be Religious is to Be Interreligious” held in collaboration with AICUF

witnessed the active involvement of staff and students. There were quite a few other panel discussions

with eminent speakers like Ram Puniyani and Tushar Gandhi. Irfan Engineer was pleasantly surprised

that he could take one of his classes on “Understanding Islam” in the chapel. The late Fr. Noel Sheth

offered courses on Buddhism and Hinduism. Rev. Matthew Cobb, an Anglican priest of Native American

origin, offered a creative course on Interreligious Leadership: The Art of Dissent.

21 Christmas at Byculla Jail 2018

On Christmas Day Fr. Prashant usually celebrates an InterFaith Mass for the female inmates of Byculla

jail. On 25 Dec 2018 through music and movement a Hindu student led the Peace Prayer of Francis of

Assissi, while a Muslim girl led the intercessory prayers on behalf of the prisoners, the majority being

refugees from Bangladesh.

22 Samanvaya at Nashik

A major breakthrough was the launching of Samanvaya (Harmony), a collaborative forum to respond to

the challenges of Communal Harmony. It was co-founded in 2015 with Fr. Anthony Dias SJ of after an

inspiring talk by Teesta Setalvad. We are fortunate to have renowned grassroots intellectual activists like

Irfan Engineer (Director, Centre for Study of Society and Secularism) and Sanjeewani Jain (the vice-

President of Lok Raj Sanghatan started after the Mumbai riots), as well as Jesuits, women religious and

people of other faiths attending regular meetings and programmes to share their experiences and

reflections. The students relished the wide range of interreligious wisdom based on grassroots activism.

The Samanvaya anniversary was celebrated in collaboration with the college groups in 2017 and 2018.

Accompanying the Youth (UAP 3)

23 Prashant reflecting with students at the DIRS

It was amazing to accompany the college youth (UAP 3) as we dared the improbable by exploring new

nations of the poor in collaboration with people of all faiths and those who professed none. Moving out

of the classroom box and interacting with people in the slums, jails, and homes for the destitute were

novel ventures that opened up new horizons of dialogue in word and deed across boundaries of class,

caste, creed and nation. While we were struck by awe and wonder contemplating the mystery of the

universe it was disconcerting to note the galloping rate at which the environment is being devastated.

Accompanying the youth in the process of walking and talking, playing and praying with the excluded

poor and Mother Earth was an enriching, transformative type of holistic education and spiritual

conversion for all concerned.