Read more about the article The Lived Contestations of Adivasi Catholic Identity-Making
The Lived Contestations of Adivasi Catholic Identity-Making | Rinald D'Souza

The Lived Contestations of Adivasi Catholic Identity-Making

In the mid-nineteenth century movement towards Christianity in Chotanagpur in central India, the missionary Constant Lievens (1856-1893) played a pioneering role in the establishment of the Catholic Mission among the Adivasis (indigenous peoples). Through Lievens’ legal advocacy, Adivasis not only adopted a faith, but also began to reclaim their lands and their indigeneity. Drawing on ethnographic research around the intercessory prayer for the beati_cation of Lievens, this paper analyses the present-day lived contestations of Adivasi Catholic identity-making. The paper argues that Adivasi Catholic identities are lived in contestation and continuous negotiation with their present realities, while also borrowing from the legacies of their own past struggles and their intermediaries.

Continue ReadingThe Lived Contestations of Adivasi Catholic Identity-Making
Read more about the article At Van Eyck’s Optical Revolution, the Sublime meets the Spiritual
Jan van Eyck, "Annunciation", c. 1430-35 | National Gallery of Art, Washington DC

At Van Eyck’s Optical Revolution, the Sublime meets the Spiritual

LONG READ | ‘Van Eyck. An Optical Revolution’ at the MSK Ghent is the largest exhibition of the Early Netherlandish pioneer Jan van Eyck, whose innovations with oil painting and realism enabled us to see the world like we had never seen before. But is there more in his sublime portrayal of reality? Rinald D’Souza reviews.

Continue ReadingAt Van Eyck’s Optical Revolution, the Sublime meets the Spiritual

Finding the Lost Sheep at Christmas

If Christmas indeed celebrates the birth and coming of Jesus, one might probably need to investigate the purpose of his coming: for “the lost sheep of Israel” — the marginalised of society. But what could lost sheep inform us about our Christmas, our lives and our histories? A reflection for Christmas.

Continue ReadingFinding the Lost Sheep at Christmas