Kurien Kunnumpuram

Contents

Rev. Prof. (Dr) Kurien Kunnumpuram S.J. pronunciationⓘ (8 July 1931 – 23 October 2018) was a Roman Catholic, Indian Jesuit priest and well-known Christian theologian. A member of the academic staff of the Faculty of Theology at Jnana Deepa, Institute of Philosophy and Theology, Pune (India) (Emeritus), he contributed in the field of ecclesiology, particularly with regard to Vatican II.[1]

He was the founder-publisher-editor of Jnanadeepa: Pune Journal of Religious Studies,[2] from 1998 to 2010. He was also the founding editor of JDV's Encyclopedia of Indian Christian Theology, till 2009. He was the editor of AUC: Asian Journal of Religious Studies.[3][4]

Life and career

Kunnumpuram was born on 8 July 1931 in Teekoy, Kerala, India. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1950 and was ordained a priest in March 1963.[5]

He pursued advanced studies at the University of Innsbruck, completing a Doctorate in Systematic Theology in 1968 on “Ways of Salvation.”[6][7] The following year he began teaching theology at Jnana Deepa, Institute of Philosophy and Theology in Pune, India, became faculty dean in 1974 (serving until 1977), and served as rector from 1987 to 1993.[8][9]

In January 1998, he founded the Jnanadeepa: Pune Journal of Religious Studies and served as its editor-publisher,[4][10][11] and, beginning in 2002, he edited AUC: Asian Journal of Religious Studies for the Papal Seminary, Pune.[12][13][14]

Kunnumpuram’s 80th birthday was marked at the Papal Seminary in Pune with a Mass and felicitation hosted by Rt Rev Thomas Dabre, Bishop of Pune.[15] Shortly before his passing, a national seminar was held in his honour, recognising his contribution to Indian Catholic theology.[16]

Later life and death

In 2013, Kunnumpuram returned to the Jesuit Province of Kozhikode in Kerala, where he continued to write and mentor younger scholars; among his late publications was Freedom and Joy (2018).[17][18]

On 17 November 2017, at the age of 86, he experienced a mild stroke.[19] In October 2018, a national seminar in Pune honoured his theological contributions.[20]

He suffered a blood clot in the brain on 25 September 2018, which left him in a coma,[19] and died on 23 October 2018 at Nirmala Hospital in Kozhikode, Kerala, India.[21][22][23]

References

  1. 1.Kunnumpuram, Kurien, and Lorenzo Fernando. 1993. Quest for an Indian church: An exploration of the possibilities opened up by Vatican II. Anand, Gujarat, India: Gujarat Sahitya Prakash.
  2. 2.Jnanadeepa: Pune Journal of Religious Studies, Vol 5/1 January 2002, p. 2. ISSN 0972-3331. This journal is owned and published by Jnana Deepa, Institute of Philosophy and Theology. He gave up this post in 2010, due to bad health.
  3. 3.AUC: Asian Journal of Religious Studies, Vol 50/6 November 2005, p. 2., a pastoral journal published by Papal Seminary, Pune, India, from 2002 to 2013.
  4. 4.[4.2]"List of Articles in Jnanadeepa (1998–2020)". Zenodo. 20 October 2020. Retrieved 5 October 2025. Founder/Editor: Prof Kurien Kunnumpuram SJ
  5. 5."Fr Kurien Kunnumpuram SJ – Profile". Kerala Jesuits. Retrieved 8 November 2025.
  6. 6.Karimundackal, Thomas (January–June 2019). "Fr. Kurien Kunnumpuram SJ: A Man of Vision and Commitment" (PDF). Jnanadeepa: Pune Journal of Religious Studies. 23 (1): 142–146. Retrieved 8 November 2025.
  7. 7."Ways of Salvation and the Way of Salvation". Zenodo. 2 June 2019. Retrieved 8 November 2025.
  8. 8."Fr Kurien Kunnumpuram SJ – Profile". Kerala Jesuits. Retrieved 8 November 2025.
  9. 9."Fr. Kurien Kunnumpuram SJ: A Man of Vision and Commitment". SSRN. 2020. Retrieved 8 November 2025.
  10. 10."Home". punejournal.in.
  11. 11.Karimundackal, Thomas (2019). "Fr. Kurien Kunnumpuram SJ: A Man of Vision and Commitment" (PDF). Jnanadeepa. 23 (1): 142–146. Retrieved 8 November 2025.
  12. 12."Home". punejournal.co.in.
  13. 13."Publications – Papal Seminary, Pune". Papal Seminary. Retrieved 8 November 2025. …updated and edited by Fr. Kurien Kunnumpuram
  14. 14."AUC – Online Archive". AUC (Papal Seminary, Pune). 2015. Retrieved 8 November 2025.
  15. 15."AUC: Asian Journal of Religious Studies". AUC (Papal Seminary, Pune). Retrieved 8 November 2025.
  16. 16."National seminar honors Indian Jesuit theologian". Matters India. 24 October 2018. Retrieved 8 November 2025.
  17. 17."Fr Kurien Kunnumpuram SJ – Profile". Kerala Jesuits. Retrieved 8 November 2025.
  18. 18."Freedom and Joy: Reflections on the Essential Characteristics of Christian Life Today". St Pauls India. 2018. Retrieved 8 November 2025.
  19. 19.[19.2]"From the Provincial – December 2017" (PDF). Kerala Jesuits. December 2017. Retrieved 5 October 2025. Fr Kurien Kunnumpuram had a mild stroke on November 17…
  20. 20."National seminar honors Indian Jesuit theologian". Matters India. 24 October 2018. Retrieved 8 November 2025.
  21. 21.Matters India Reporter. (2018, October 24). Noted Indian Jesuit theologian dies. Matters India.
  22. 22."India honours prominent theologian". Herald Malaysia. 9 November 2018. Retrieved 5 October 2025.
  23. 23.Karimundackal, Thomas (January–June 2019). "Fr. Kurien Kunnumpuram SJ: A Man of Vision and Commitment" (PDF). Jnanadeepa: Pune Journal of Religious Studies. 23 (1): 142–146. Retrieved 8 November 2025.