Statement – Indian Women Theologians Forum (IWTF) Meeting, 2025

NBCLC, Bangalore 6th – 8thMay, 2025

Members of the Indian Women Theologians Forum (IWTF) gathered at NBCLC Bangalore from 6th to 8thMay, 2025, to deliberate on the theme “The Prophetic Voices of Women”.

In the light of IWTF's mission to theologize from the context of our life experiences, the meeting began with sharing the unsettling questions that remain within each of us.

We expressed deep concern about:

• The growth of right-wing politics that has given rise to hatred, division, violence and fear among minority communities, Dalits and other marginalised groups;
  
  
• The definition of nationalism that promotes the dominance of one section of the population over the rest and threatens the very existence of democracy;
  
  
• The politicization of religious identity, making it a primary identity and moving it from the private sphere into mainstream political discourse;
  
  
• Increasing violence against women in society, families and even the Church arising from the reinforcement of patriarchy that breeds a culture of toxic masculinity;
  
  
• The apathy of religious authorities to the shocking suicides of women, including Christian women, women religious and youth, that have exposed the growing alienation in relationships, within the family, Church and society;
  
  
• Institutional indifference to abuse that is evident in Church policies that do not have mandated mechanisms for redressal of complaints, and lack of support and accompaniment for survivors of abuse, compounding women's experience of abuse and violence;
  
  
• Gender discrimination and the misuse of power in the Church to control doctrine and thereby the faithful;
  
  
• The unaddressed discrimination based on caste that persists in society and even in the Church;
  
  
• Economic globalization and development that deprives adivasis of their land, leading to their exploitation and impoverishment;
  
  
• The internalization of patriarchal norms in social and religious practices leading to women's exploitation and submissiveness in the family and the Church, as well as their active participation in promoting patriarchy;
  
  
• The lack of implementation, in the Church in India, of the synodal process that calls for rootedness in the gospels and collective discernment;
  
  
• A Church that seems to have forsaken God and community for power, privilege and money.

We discussed these troubling questions under the headings of “The Politicization of Religion” and “Internalized Patriarchy, both Personal and Collective", reflecting on the life of Jesus to better understand our situations and evolve appropriate responses

Jesus, because of His oneness with God could dissent, disrupt and challenge people including religious leaders to walk the path of Truth. He broke the silence that shrouded the systemic violence mediated mainly by the religious and political powers of his time. He promoted the relationship between God and humans and declared love of neighbour as the greatest commandment. Washing his disciples' feet was Jesus'greatest disruptive act, demonstrating the depth of His love.

We feel challenged to grow in feminist consciousness, in our understanding of the person Jesus, in our theological commitment to realizing the kin-ship vision mediated by him through his teaching and his life. In this mission, we feel led to grow in the ‘Christa’ consciousness by assuming the embodiment of Christ in our everyday enfleshed experiences as women. Becoming ‘Christa’ would enable us to recognize our bodies as the site of the Divine, even in its experiences of mortality, pain and abuse. In a world scarred with violence, institutionalized fraud, rapacious human degradation, political suppression, economic slavery and rampant narcissism we need to raise our prophetic voices to lead us back to spiritual sanity. Against the backdrop of our reflections we therefore acknowledge that the task before us includes:

• Critiquing the religious right within the Church along with fighting fascist ideologies at large;
  
  
• Working with communities to develop critical thinking and enable resistance to being manipulated to fulfil agendas for gaining political and/or religious power;
  
  
• Challenging leaders of the Church who fail to call out violence and injustice and/or court favour with partisan political leaders;
  
  
• Resisting patriarchy by dissenting, being disruptive and challenging accepted patriarchal attitudes, customs and practices;
  
  
• Widening and deepening our base of disruption by creating alternate spaces for women's voices to be heard and acted upon, spaces where women can find hope, accompaniment and solidarity;
  
  
• Developing conversation and dialogue circles that are inclusive, diverse and characterized by intentional listening, to reflect on contemporary issues;
  
  
• Developing women’s agency to enable them to make informed choices and distinguish between obedience and consent in situations of violence and abuse;
  
  
• Instilling a critical consciousness that identifies and condemns the seeds of violence that lie in all of us.
  
  
• Developing a deeper connection with our core selves, others, our communities and the universe;
  
  
• Reflecting on teachings in scripture that emphasize the equality between genders, and reading the Constitution of India in the light of the gospel;
  
  
• Creating a resource bank of material for women to use to grow in critical consciousness and deepen their spirituality so that together we can transform the Church in accordance with the mind and heart of Christ.

Embodying the death and resurrection of Christ in our enfleshment as women, the Christa consciousness enables us to engage in the mission of Jesus Christ with prophetic courage. Only when we exercise our spiritual agency as individuals and as a collective can we witness the resurrected presence of Jesus Christ in our world today. Through our theologizing we feel affirmed in our call to be prophetic presence of Christa, to challenge exploitation, reverse subjugating hierarchies following the servant leadership of Jesus and build relationships founded on justice, inclusion and compassion.