Pune: Prof. Dr. Francis Gonsalves, SJ has been appointed as the new President of prestigious Pontifical institute Jnana-Deepa Vidyapeeth (JDV), Pune, by Fr. Arturo Sosa, SJ, Superior General of the Society of Jesus. Run by the Society of Jesus, the institute caters primarily to the formation of candidates to the Catholic priesthood.
The installation ceremony of Prof. Dr. Francis Gonsalves will be held on tomorrow (Friday) on the Feast of St. Ignatius. The event will be streamed live on YouTube weblink https://youtu.be/M9x2oxgoIyk from 12.00 noon onwards.
July 31 is a special day for Fr Francis Gonsalves as he took his first vows in Ahmedabad in 1983, and the final vows in Gandhinagar in 2001, on that feast day!
Reacting to the appointment, Prof. Francis said, “As Executive Secretary of the CCBI Commission for Theology and Doctrine, I wish to express a million thanks to all for the support and encouragement. I look forward to the continued support and guidance at the personal and the institutional level.”
Prof. Dr. Francis Gonsalves is a Jesuit of the Gujarat Province. He has a Licentiate (Masters’ Degree) in Theology from the Gregorian University, Rome, and a Doctorate (Ph.D.) from the University of Madras, Chennai. He has been teaching Theology since 1997 at the Vidyajyoti College of Theology, Delhi, and was Principal there for four years from 2009 to 2013. He then lectured at the Sogang University, Seoul, South Korea, and at the Jesuit School of Theology, Berkeley, before being appointed as Professor of Theology to Jnana-Deepa Vidyapeeth, (JDV), Pune, in 2015. Since then he has been Moderator of the Master’s Programme, Chairperson of the Doctoral Committee, and Dean of Theology before being appointed President of JDV.
Besides his lecturing in Theology, Prof. Gonsalves is currently the Executive Secretary of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India (CCBI) and has been former Executive Secretary of the Indian Theological Association (ITA). He is the author of seven books, the latest one published in 2019 entitled: “Saint Romero & Pope Francis: Revolutionaries of Tender Love”. He has also edited eight other books, the last one on the ‘Church in the Covid Context’ published recently. Since April 2010 he has regularly written a fortnightly column called ‘Mystic Mantra’ for two national newspapers: The Asian Age and The Deccan Chronicle. Besides this, he has published over 200 scholarly articles for various publications in India and abroad.
Besides his interests in theology, spirituality and journalism, Fr. Gonsalves is deeply concerned about social issues that affect the poor and the marginalized. He has been involved in social-justice issues from his personal experiences of Adivasis in south Gujarat, as well as slum-dwellers and prison inmates of Tihar Jail, Delhi, where he served as Director of Prison Ministry and slum outreach. His areas of interest are interdisciplinary approaches to theology; interfaith dialogue and interfaith initiatives; socio-religious and subaltern movements; networking with committed groups on socio-justice issues. Francis—who likes to be called ‘Francisbhai’—is also a musician who seeks to develop poetry, music, art, dance and drama as sources of theology.
He’s a columnists for Indian Catholic Matters, The Asian Age and The Deccan Chronicle.
We wish him well in his new role.
Its a great news for me …
Congratulations Francisbhai. Surely, theologians will benefit much from your expertise, interests, Vision..
Congratulations to Fr Francis. It’s been an honor to be associated with him. He’s a real asset to the Catholic Church. May God bless him with good health and happiness for His Greater Glory