Fr Russel Fernandes, a member of the Society of Pilar from Velim, meets Pope Francis in the Vatican.
OLD GOA
Pilar Theological College, an institute of theology of the Society of Pilar, has been blessed with a new breed of professors. At present, the college is affiliated to Jnana Deepa Vidyapeeth (JDV), an institute for philosophy and theology in Pune.
Fr Russel Fernandes, a member of the Society of Pilar from Velim, will join the faculty very soon. He obtained his licentiate in Moral Theology from the Alphonsian Academy (Alfonsianum) in Rome, Italy in June with ‘summa cum laude’.
Having a particular interest in the field of bioethics, he wrote his licentiate thesis on a relevant bioethical topic under the guidance of Prof. Edmund Kowalski, C.Ss.R.
Entitled as ‘Personhood and the moral status of the unborn: a comparative analysis of Catholic and Hindu perspectives’, this paper attempted to take a closer look at the rich understanding developed within the two major religious traditions of the world on the bioethical issue of the unborn.
In the spirit of inter-religious dialogue, the purpose of this exposition was also to allow for a deeper mutual understanding and appreciation of each other’s perspective on the issue of the unborn, thus paving a way forward towards taking a shared pro-life stance.
Recently, Fr Franky Carvalho (Majorda) and Fr Reagan Fernandes (Verna) also joined the faculty.
Fr Carvalho defended a Narrative-Critical study on John 2: 1-12 titled “Beholding the glory of God at Cana”, while Fr Fernandes' dissertation dwelt on the 'Relevance of Missionary Spirituality in the Modern World'.
