Mumbai-based sociologist, Fr Joseph Mundananikkal SVD will visit Australia in September to carry out a number of speaking engagements in which he will explore different aspects of India’s social and religious culture.

Holding a M. Phil in Sociology from Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi and a PhD from the same university, since 2009 Fr Joseph has been Director and Superior at the SVD-run Institute of Indian Culture, a post-graduate research centre in Sociology and Anthropology in Mumbai and since 2012 has been assistant professor in Sociology at the State University of Mumbai. He is the National Co-ordinator for India of Mission, Education and Research of the SVD.

Fr Joseph will be the keynote speaker at Mission Day celebrations at Dorish Maru College in Melbourne on Saturday, September 7, where he will speak on the ‘Christian Influence on Indian Culture’.

All are welcome to attend this reflective gathering in the Study Centre of Yarra Theological Union, Box Hill, at 3.30pm. The presentation will be followed by Holy Eucharist at 6.15pm in St Paschal’s Chapel and then a multicultural meal at Dorish Maru College.

The respondent to Fr Joseph’s presentation will be Monica Jyotsna Melanchthon, a Church worker, theological educator, and a student of the Bible who belongs to the Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church, India. A graduate of the United Theological College, Bangalore, and the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (PhD), she currently teaches Old Testament/Hebrew Bible at the United Church Theological College, UFT/MCD University of Divinity, Melbourne.

While in Australia, Fr Joseph will launch Mission Month in the Diocese of Bathurst on Thursday, September 12.

Before heading to Bathurst, Fr Joseph will give a seminar for religious, clergy and church personnel on the topic of ‘Gender Relations in the Catholic Church’ on Tuesday, September 10.

He says the cold-blooded rape and murder of Jyoti Singh Pandey, a para-medical student in Delhi in December 2012, turned the spotlight on issues of violence faced by women in different locations in India.

“An analysis of the specificities of South Asia, particularly India will reveal different intersecting fault lines of domination and exploitation that append the blame of violation on the survivors and render everyday violence normal,” he says of his presentation.

“This general analysis of the society in India will be followed by the challenges of gender justice in the Catholic Church.”