PONTIFICIA STUDIORUM UNIVERSITAS A S. THOMA AQ. IN URBE Mathew George Charthakuzhiyil “LIGHT FROM LIGHT”: THE NEW EVANGELIZATION AND THE MISSIONARY VOCATION OF THE SYRO-MALANKARA CATHOLIC CHURCH IN THE 21ST CENTURY ___________________ PARS DISSERTATIONIS AD LAUREAM IN FACULTATE S. THEOLOGIAE APUD PONTIFICIAM UNIVERSITATEM S. THOMAE IN URBE ___________________ Moderator: Prof. James Puglisi, S. A. ROMAE 2014 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The completion of this research is the result of much toil and prayer. As I place on record my indebtedness to all those who have helped me to finish this doctoral dissertation, I bow down before God and proclaim with Mary: “The Almighty has done great things for me.” I am really privileged to do this work with Prof. James Puglisi S.A., whose expertise in the area of Dogmatic theology, Ecumenism, and Interreligious affairs is prodigious. He also has an in-depth knowledge of theological affairs related to the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church, which enormously aided me to dig deeper. It is with gratitude I remember all the professors and the Staff of the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, who helped me to broaden my intellectual abilities. My bishop, Moran Mor Baselios Cardinal Cleemis, the Major Archbishop-Catholicos of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church, with his paternal care, encouragement and constant support helped me to finish the studies on time. I thank Mr. Lintu Markose and Dn. Michael O’Keefe for their valuable help in language corrections of my text. I also gratefully acknowledge the support and love I received from the community at the Curia Generalizia dei Passionisti and Collegio San Norberto, during my stay in Rome. My gratitude goes to my friends in the Archdiocese of Detroit, USA, especially of St. Thomas a’Becket Catholic Church, for their encouragement and support. Finally, I remember with gratitude my family, and friends – the priests, sisters and brothers – of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Community in Rome. I express my special thanks to Msgr. Johnson Kaimalayil and the priests of the Major Archdiocese of Trivandrum. May God bless each one of us and fill us with his graces. Rome, May 2014 Rev. Mathew George Charthakuzhiyil 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS GENERAL INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................. 9 A.1 Thesis Statement and Project Overview ........................................................................................................... 10 A.2 Review of Prior Research and Justification for Further Research ......................................................... 13 A.3 Methodology ................................................................................................................................................................. 14 A.3.1 Approach .................................................................................................................................................................................................... 14 A.3.2 Scope ............................................................................................................................................................................................................ 14 A.4 Limitations .................................................................................................................................................................... 15 A.5 Aims and Objectives ................................................................................................................................................... 15 CHAPTER ONE .................................................................................................................................................... 17 THE CULTURAL AND INTELLECTUAL MILIEU OF NEW EVANGELIZATION ..................................... 17 1.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................................................. 17 1.2 Atheism ............................................................................................................................................................................ 19 1.2.1 The Inadequacy of a Negative Definition ..................................................................................................................................... 19 1.2.1.1 Greek Origin .................................................................................................................................................................................... 19 1.2.1.2 The Negative Definition ............................................................................................................................................................. 20 1.2.1.3 Toward a Better Definition ...................................................................................................................................................... 21 1.2.2 Types of Atheism .................................................................................................................................................................................... 22 1.2.2.1 Positive and Negative Atheism ............................................................................................................................................... 22 1.2.2.2 Other types of Atheism .............................................................................................................................................................. 22 1.2.2.3 Contemporary Atheism ............................................................................................................................................................. 24 1.2.2.4 Atheism and Agnosticism ......................................................................................................................................................... 24 1.2.3 Historical Development ....................................................................................................................................................................... 25 1.2.4 Some Statistics ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 27 1.2.5 The Future of Atheism .......................................................................................................................................................................... 28 1.2.6 Atheism and New Evangelization .................................................................................................................................................... 29 1.3 Secularism and Secularization .............................................................................................................................. 33 1.3.1 Definition ................................................................................................................................................................................................... 34 1.3.2 Historical Development ....................................................................................................................................................................... 37 1.3.3 Types of Secularization ........................................................................................................................................................................ 38 1.3.4 Proponents of secularization ............................................................................................................................................................. 40 1.3.5 Recapitulation .......................................................................................................................................................................................... 48 1.3.6 Secularization and New Evangelization ....................................................................................................................................... 50 1.4 Globalization ................................................................................................................................................................. 53 1.4.1 Definition ................................................................................................................................................................................................... 54 1.4.2 Globalization and Modernity ............................................................................................................................................................. 57 1.4.3 Historical Development ....................................................................................................................................................................... 58 1.4.3.1 First Phase (1492- 1945) .......................................................................................................................................................... 58 1.4.3.2 Second Phase (1945-1989) ...................................................................................................................................................... 59 1.2.3.3 Third Phase (1989-present ) ................................................................................................................................................... 60 1.4.4 Effects of Globalization ........................................................................................................................................................................