Sebastian Painadath

Sebastian Painadath SJ (* 1942 in Kerala , India ) is an Indian Jesuit pater , author of spiritual books, speaker on spiritual topics and director of the Christian ashram Sameeksha in Kalady , India.

Live and act

Sebastian Painadath was born in Kerala. His parents and grandparents belonged to the Syro-Malabar Church . In 1966, Painadath entered the Jesuit order at the age of 24 , where he subsequently studied philosophy in Pune and was sent to Innsbruck to study theology in 1970 . He was finally ordained a priest in 1973 in Puchheim , Bavaria . Subsequently, he completed his doctoral studies in Tübingen with Walter Kasper , which he completed in 1977 with a doctorate in dogmatic theology on the subject "Theology of Prayer in the Work of the Protestant Theologian Paul Tillich " , which is entirely in the Western academic tradition .

In addition to his intensive academic study of the Christian tradition of the West, his grandfather, who came from a family of Hindu scholars, then converted to Christianity and worked as a professor of Sanskrit , was formative for his spirituality, especially in his childhood .

Interreligious Dialogue

On behalf of the Jesuit Order, Sebastian Painadath founded the Sameeksha Ashram in Kalady in 1987, a Christian ashram, which is intended to serve on the one hand the interreligious dialogue , especially between Christianity , Hinduism and Islam, and on the other hand as a place for retreats with Hindu scriptures.

Painadath stands in the tradition of integrative spirituality and in this context assumes a final spiritual unity of all people. With this background he is looking for new forms of religious coexistence. In interreligious dialogue, he focuses on the one hand on neighborly relationships with people of different faiths and on the other hand on respect for religious diversity. According to Painadath, all people are pilgrims on the way to God and the search for this is the common goal of all religions, which manifests itself in an often confusing variety. According to Painadath, a "basic feeling for transcendence " is the same and connecting all people with a religious background , the description and language of which is strongly influenced by the respective culture or tradition.

Painadath's approach of the Wandering People of God and his view that no religion can be in possession of the truth has its roots in the texts of the Second Vatican Council , which is thus the theological foundation of his engagement in interreligious dialogue.

For Sebastian Painadath, political, economic or ethnic reasons are the cause of many worldwide conflicts that are considered to be religious wars . A person's religion can reinforce and emotionalize these reasons, as it has a profound influence on the psyche of the person.

Against the background of a Europe that is currently changing significantly in relation to the increasing religious pluralism , Sebastian Painadath is a sought-after speaker and book author with his experience and solutions in interreligious dialogue, especially in German-speaking countries.

Publications (selection)

• The sun prayer. Kösel , Munich 2000, ISBN 3-466-36553-8 .
• The spirit tears down walls. Kösel, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-466-36591-0 .
• Liberation to True Life. Kösel, Munich 2006, ISBN 978-3-466-36714-6 .
• We are all pilgrims: prayers of the world. (Ed.), Kösel, Munich 2010, ISBN 978-3-466-36806-8 .
• God has many names. Spiritual experiences that touch our heart. with Richard Rohr , Vier-Türme , Münsterschwarzach 2011, ISBN 978-3-89680-526-3 .
• Make the heart vibrate. Pray with mantras and melodies. with Rose Pudukadan , Vier-Türme, Münsterschwarzach 2014, ISBN 978-3-89680-883-7 .
• Realize your divine nature. 55 meditations . Vier-Türme-Verlag, Münsterschwarzach 2016, ISBN 978-3-7365-0025-9 .

literature

• Georg Evers: Sebastian Painadath SJ. Theologian from India. missio Aachen, March 1, 2008, accessed on January 8, 2020 . 

Web links

• Literature by and about Sebastian Painadath in the catalog of the German National Library
• Sebastian Painadath in conversation on YouTube .
• Profile at Marymatha Seminary in the Archdiocese of Trichur . (English)
• Website of the Ashram Sameeksha in Kalady. (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Faith grows in dialogue - conversation with the Indian Jesuit Sebastian Painadath (SJ). (PDF) (No longer available online.) Missio , February 27, 2007, formerly in the original ; accessed on June 30, 2014 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.    
2. ↑ P. Sebastian Painadath SJ. Brief interview with Fr. Peter Fritzer SJ. (No longer available online.) Cardinal-König Haus, 2004, formerly in the original ; accessed on June 30, 2014 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.    
3. ↑ Discover the harmony of the heart. (PDF) continents , April 2009, accessed on July 1, 2014 . 
4. ↑ Sebastian Painadath in conversation on YouTube , accessed June 30, 2014.