Kozhikode
A renowned Jesuit theologian of India Father Kurien Kunnumpuram, who encouraged generations of Indian priests and nuns to cultivate personal experience of God, died on October 23 after a brief illness here. He was 87.
Father Kurien, as he is popularly known, had contributed in the field of ecclesiology, particularly with regard to Vatican II. He taught 49 years as the member of the academic staff of the faculty of theology at one of the top seminaries in India, Jnana Deepa Vidyapeeth, Pune.
Sister Devasia said the Jesuits admirers had organized October 17-18 a national seminar at Kozhikode on “Kurien’s Contribution to Indian Theological Vision.”
Father George Mutholil, Kerala Jesuit provincial, who opened the seminar, described Father Kurien as someone who had challenged him to grow.
He saw Father Kurien’s life and writings as a challenge “to priests to practice a spirituality of active involvement in the lives of people and to practice an integrated spirituality – integrating life, prayer and work, instead of ‘scattering their energies in many directions.