Theology and Ministry in Asia

In this address delivered at LST's Silver Anniversary convocation, Archbishop Giovanni Cesare Pagazzi draws on the Emmaus and Jerusalem Council narratives to identify four movements that should mark theological reflection in Asia: movement, encounter, conflict, and agreement/amazement. Applying the four criteria of Veritatis Gaudium, he argues that Asian theologians must "go out" toward the peripheries, engage in sincere dialogue ad intra and ad extra, embrace rather than avoid conflict as an occasion for growth, and let synodal discernment culminate in shared amazement at the Spirit's guidance. Pagazzi calls theologians to transdisciplinary openness and networked cooperation among ecclesiastical institutions worldwide, presenting dialogue not as a strategy but as constitutive of the Church's synodal identity and mission of evangelization in Asia.