A Few Ethical Contours That Emerge from the Fabc Teachings For An Asian Moral Theology
Keywords:
Ethical Contours, Asian Moral TheologyAbstract
When the Asian bishops representing different Asian Episcopal
Conferences met in Manila in 1970 (in the immediate aftermath of the
Vatican-II), for the first time, they felt a unique sense of solidarity. This
led them to the formation of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences,
popularly known as the FABC, within the next couple of years. Their
enthusiasm was such that they had the very First Plenary Assembly of
the FABC in Taiwan in 1974.1 Since then, there had been eight more
Plenaries, the latest one being held in August 2009 in Manila, the
Philippines. According to the Statutes of the FABC, a Plenary Assembly
is the “supreme body of the FABC”.2 Such a gathering which meets in
ordinary session, every four years or so, is truly an “assembly” of the
Asian Churches, attended by about 150 participants, with the bishop
representatives of various member Conferences forming the bulk ofthis number. The rest is made up of officials of various FABC Offices,
theologians, resource persons, grassroots level workers in the pastoral
field and other special invitees (all of whom are either appointed or
recommended by the member Episcopal Conferences). At a Plenary
Assembly, only the bishop-delegates have a vote. As Quatra says, the
Plenaries “hold the first place” in the FABC’s hierarchy: “They mark
the beat of the Federation’s journey, following a route that is not
predetermined but open to seizing the opportunity of the hour,
according to the signs of the times, and often in consonance with the
problems of the universal Church”.
References
Edmund Chia, “Thirty Years of FABC: History, Foundation, Context and Theology,” FABC Papers 106 (April 2003).
Miguel, Marcelo Quatra, At the Side of the Multitudes: The Kingdom of God and the Mission of the Church in the FABC Documents, Quezon City: Claretian Publications, 2000.
Statutes of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC), Article 7-A.
Quatra, At the Side of the Multitudes.
Thomas Fox, Pentecost in Asia: A New Way of Being Church, Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 2002.
Chia, “Thirty Years of FABC.
John H. Kroeger, “FABC Papers Comprehensive Index: Papers 1-100 (1976-2001),” FABC Papers, 100 (Pentecost 2001).
Quatra, At the Side of the Multitudes.
Chia, “Thirty Years of FABC.
Jonathan Yun-ka Tan, “Theologizing at the Service of Life: The Contextual Theological Methodology of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC),” FABC Papers, 108 (October 2003.
Quatra, At the Side of the Multitudes.
Tan, “Theologizing at the Service of Life.
Fox, Pentecost in Asia.
Pope John Paul II, Ecclesia in Asia (1999).
Michael Amaladoss, “Is there an Asian Way of Doing Theology?”, East Asian Pastoral Review, 45:1 (2008).
Gaudencio Rosales and C.G. Arevalo (Eds.), For All the Peoples of Asia: Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences – Documents from 1970 to 1991, Quezon City: Claretian Publications, 1992.
“The Spirit at Work in Asia Today” as re-produced in Vimal Tirimanna (Ed.), Sprouts of Theology from the Asian Soil: Collection of TAC and OTC Documents [1987 2007], Bangalore: Claretian Publications, 2007.
K.N. Mishra, “Harmony as Samanvaya: The Conjunction of Opposites”, FABC Papers 76 (June 1996).
The Vocation and Mission of the Laity in the Church and in the World of Asia”, the Statement of the Fourth Plenary Assembly of the FABC, Tokyo, Japan, 1986.
Tirimanna, Sprouts of Theology from the Asian Soil.
The Vocation and Mission of the Laity in the Church and in the World of Asia”, the Statement of the Fourth Plenary Assembly of the FABC, Tokyo, Japan, 1986.
Working for Harmony in the Contemporary World: A Hindu-Christian Dialogue, A Statement”, FABC Papers 76 (June 1996).
“Evangelization in Modern Day Asia”, the Statement of the First Plenary Assembly of the FABC Nos: 12, 19.
Archbishop Angelo Fernandes, “Dialogue in the Context of Asian Realities,” Vidyajyoti Journal of Theological Reflection 55 (1991).
Vimal Tirimanna, “God’s Active Presence Outside the Visible Institutional Church and a Few of its Implications” in Patrick Gnanapragasam and Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza (Eds.), Negotiating Borders: Theological Explorations in the Global Era – Essays in Honour of Prof. Felix Wilfred, Delhi: ISPCK, 2008.
“Methodology: Asian Christian Theology – Doing Theology in Asia Today”, FABC Papers, 96 (October 2000).
Sebastian Painadath, “Coincidentia Oppositorum: A Response to Prof.K. N. Mishra’s Paper on Samanvaya,” FABC Papers 76 (June 1996).
Asian Family Towards a Culture of Integral Life”, Op.cit., No:95.
Mishra, “Harmony as Samanvaya".
Painadath, “Coincidentia Oppositorum,”.
“Evangelization in Modern Day Asia”, Nos:14-15, in FAPA.
Tirimanna, “God’s Active Presence Outside the Visible Institutional Church and a Few of its Implications,”.
Jonathan Yun-ka Tan, “Missio Inter Gentes: Towards a New Paradigm in the Mission Theology of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences,” FABC Papers 109 (2004).
“The Asian Family Toward a Culture of Integral Life,” The 8th FABC Plenary Assembly Final Document, FABC Papers 111(September 2004) No:87.
Ruben C. Mendoza, “Regnocentrism in the Theology of Religions in the FABC and Paul Knitter,” Studies in Interreligious Dialogue, 19:2 (2009).
“Christian Discipleship in Asia Today: Service to Life,” The Final Statement of the Sixth Plenary Assembly of the FABC, as re-produced in FABC Papers 74 (June 1995).
“A Renewed Church in Asia: A Mission of Love and Service,” The Final Statement of the Seventh Plenary Assembly of the FABC, Samphran, Thailand, January 3-12, 2000.
Pope John Paul II, Evangelium Vitae (1995).
John Prior, “The Asian Family Towards A Culture of Integral Life: A Personal Reflection on the Eighth FABC Plenary Assembly, Daejeon, South Korea”, East Asian Pastoral Review, 42:3 (2005).
“Inter-Faith Marriages in the Pluralistic Context of Asia: Challenges, Theological Reflections and Pastoral Approaches,” FABC Papers 118 (July 2006); Vimal Tirimanna (Ed.), “A Few Theological and Pastoral Perspectives of Inter- Faith Marriages,” FABC Papers 127 (February 2009).
http:// www.fao.org/hunger/hunger_home/hunger_at_glance/en/ (last accessed on 1st December 2009).
Mendoza, “Regnocentrism in the Theology of Religions.
Gaudium et Spes, Nos: 44, 62.
Pope Paul VI, Octogesima Adveniens (1971).
Charles Curran, The Catholic Moral Tradition Today: A Synthesis, Washington DC: Georgetown University Press, 1999.
