In this podcast with CWCIT's Stan Chu Ilo, Dr. Kochurani Abraham discusses her advocacy for gender equality in India and her ecumenical leadership in holding churches to account in India in the fight against rape, and other forms of gender violence against women. She also speaks of where she sees signs of hope for women and her prophetic witnessing in bringing about signs of hope in the lives of wounded and broken women in the Church and the wider society in India.

Dr. Abraham is a feminist theologian, gender researcher, and trainer from Kerala, India. She has a masters in child development from Kerala University, a licentiate in systematic theology from Pontifical University of Comillas, Madrid, and a PhD in feminist theology from the University of Madras, India. Currently, she serves as regional coordinator of the Indian Christian Women’s Movement for Kerala and vice president of the Indian Theological Association.

Kochurani Abraham on Gender Equality in India

A CWCIT interview with Fr. Bernhard Udelhoven, MAfr, a longtime missionary in Zambia. Fr. Udelhoven holds an MA in social anthropology (SOAS University of London) and has 20 years' experience in mediating witchcraft-related disputes in Zambia. 

For CWCIT's 2018-19 Spiritual Works of Mercy lecture series, Fr. Udelhoven gave a talk at DePaul University on the topic of this podcast's title. In the West, witchcraft and demons are typically the stuff of fiction. But in Zambia, these are real issues that affect real people. Those who have occult experiences, feel afflicted by demons, or stand accused of witchcraft are ostracized, even by their own families, often with threats to their very lives. Fr. Udelhoven's "Fingers of Thomas" support group offers them comfort. Its culturally-sensitive approach takes seriously people's fears yet also pursues justice for those who are victims of moral panics and minority demonization.
(Learn more about the "Fingers of Thomas" here: https://www.fenza.org/fingers-of-thomas.html)

Comforting the Afflicted—Witchcraft & Demons in a World of Plural Beliefs (Bernhard Udelhoven, MAfr)

Conversations with journalists, pastoral leaders, activists, theologians, and scholars from across the globe who are working on the forefront of issues affecting the Catholic Church in the southern hemisphere—Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

Based at DePaul University, the Center for World Catholicism & Intercultural Theology (CWCIT) is a leading center of research and reflection on the Church in the global South; it hosts visiting scholars each year, publishes the Studies in World Catholicism book series, and collaborates internationally with institutions such as the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, the St. Vincent School of Theology in Manila, and the Hekima Institute of Peace Studies and International Relations in Nairobi.

Kochurani Abraham on Gender Equality in India

Near and Far (a world Catholicism podcast series)

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