This volume is about Pope Francis, the diplomat. In his eight years of pontificate, Pope Francis as a peacemaker has propagated the ideas of human and divine cooperation to build a global human fraternity through his journeys outside the Vatican. This book discusses his endeavours to connect and develop a common peaceful international order between countries, faith communities, and even antagonistic communities through a peaceful journey of human beings. The book analyses his speeches, and meetings as a diplomat of peace, including his visits to Cuba and the United States, and his mediations for peace in Colombia, Myanmar, Kenya, Egypt, Turkey, Jordan, Jerusalem, the Central African Republic, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. It discusses the role of Pope Francis as mediator in different circumstances through his own writings, letters, and Vatican documents; his encounters with world leaders; as well as his contributions to a universal understanding on inter-faith dialogue, climate change and the environment, and human migration and the refugee crisis. The volume also sheds light on his ideas on a post-pandemic just social order, as summarised in his 2020 encyclical. A definitive work on the diplomacy and the travels of Pope Francis, this volume will be of great interest to scholars and researchers of religious studies, peace and conflict studies, ethics and philosophy, and political science and international relations. It will be of great interest to the general reader as well.

If God can be used by the powerful to justify violence in the name of order, he can also be used by the weak to illuminate the position of the victims of political conflict. Religion, Torture and the Liberation of God explores the theological possibilities of a God who is a prisoner and a victim of torture. The book relocates God to the horrors of the military abuse of human rights in Chile and the systematic rape of women in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Aguilar argues that this theological exercise offers us new ways of understanding the abuse of power, whether it be the clerical abuse of children, violence against women, or homophobia. This examination of torture and rape becomes, through a theology of praxis and compliance, an examination of solidarity, love and affection. The book concludes with an exploration of the possibilities of a tortured God who liberates.

This book outlines the life of spiritual diplomacy of the 14th Dalai Lama and his emergence as a global peace icon. It traces his evolution as a Tibetan Buddhist monk rooted in the Geluk tradition, as a Nobel laureate, and as an internationally recognized peacemaker. The volume brings to the fore the Dalai Lama's monastic life grounded in the compassion and ethical responsibility of a bodhisattva, somebody who is willing to renounce samsara for the benefit of others, as well as that of a political leader of Tibet. It examines the deep impact of his ideas of peacekeeping and universal responsibility on world politics, which draw on acceptance, inclusion, and respect as their central pillars. Further, this book highlights his departure from the practices of the earlier Dalai Lamas, and how the Chinese invasion and his exile in India transformed him into a universal figure of peace, rather than solely being the leader of Tibet. An introspective read, this book will be of much interest to readers interested in spiritual diplomacy and political philosophy. It will also be of interest to scholars and researchers of peace and conflict studies, international relations, politics, and religion, especially Buddhism.

This volume is about Pope Francis, the diplomat. In his eight years of pontificate, Pope Francis as a peacemaker has propagated the ideas of human and divine cooperation to build a global human fraternity through his journeys outside the Vatican. This book discusses his endeavours to connect and develop a common peaceful international order between countries, faith communities, and even antagonistic communities through a peaceful journey of human beings. The book analyses his speeches, and meetings as a diplomat of peace, including his visits to Cuba and the United States, and his mediations for peace in Colombia, Myanmar, Kenya, Egypt, Turkey, Jordan, Jerusalem, the Central African Republic, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. It discusses the role of Pope Francis as mediator in different circumstances through his own writings, letters, and Vatican documents; his encounters with world leaders; as well as his contributions to a universal understanding on inter-faith dialogue, climate change and the environment, and human migration and the refugee crisis. The volume also sheds light on his ideas on a post-pandemic just social order, as summarised in his 2020 encyclical. A definitive work on the diplomacy and the travels of Pope Francis, this volume will be of great interest to scholars and researchers of religious studies, peace and conflict studies, ethics and philosophy, and political science and international relations. It will be of great interest to the general reader as well.

If God can be used by the powerful to justify violence in the name of order, he can also be used by the weak to illuminate the position of the victims of political conflict. Religion, Torture and the Liberation of God explores the theological possibilities of a God who is a prisoner and a victim of torture. The book relocates God to the horrors of the military abuse of human rights in Chile and the systematic rape of women in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Aguilar argues that this theological exercise offers us new ways of understanding the abuse of power, whether it be the clerical abuse of children, violence against women, or homophobia. This examination of torture and rape becomes, through a theology of praxis and compliance, an examination of solidarity, love and affection. The book concludes with an exploration of the possibilities of a tortured God who liberates.

Pope Francis: His Life and Thought paints a compelling picture of a truly remarkable man, showing the evolution of his theological ideas in detail until his election as pope in 2013. Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio was a highly unusual candidate for the papacy for two main reasons: the 'pope from far away' is the first from the Americas and the first former Jesuit to have been elected. Bergoglio's theological principles have been profoundly shaped by his Argentinean heritage and Jesuit spiritual formation. The author also reveals that his thought was deeply a ected by his simple Argentinean upbringing and fearless work in the slums of Santiago and Buenos Aires as a young Jesuit, and later as a bishop and a cardinal. Bergoglio has consistently emphasised the importance of alleviating the suffering of the poor, following the teaching of Vatican II, and in keeping with his own unflinching morality. This volume reveals Pope Francis as an exceptionally humble and altruistic man, doctrinally conservative, and engaged less in politics than in the struggle to bring the Church to the margins of society. It will be of great interest to any reader who wishes to know more about this inspiring individual. Mario I. Aguilar is a theologian from Chile, now Professor of Religion and Politics at the University of St Andrews in Scotland. He has written extensively on the Church in Latin America, Africa and Asia, including Cardenal Raul Silva Henriquez: Presencia en la vida de Chile 1907-1999 and A Social History of the Catholic Church in Chile (9 volumes). He is a Camaldolese Benedictine Oblate and has lived in Scotland for the past 20 years. "This reflection draws upon Aguilar's own experiences as a Latin American theologian and it engages directly with many of the Spanish sources that shed light upon the life and thought of Jorge Bergoglio. He] cuts a swath through fact and myth as he charts the new pope's formative experiences in detail. . . . Food for thought for anyone seeking to understand what has made him the pontiff he is." Prof. Gerard Mannion, Amaturo Professor in Catholic Studies, Georgetown University. "Pope Francis has already provided a breath of fresh air, and this welcome and timely book explains why. Anyone who thought God had no surprises up his sleeve will discover here how this new leader has been formed to be a challenging and transforming presence both in his own Church and further afield." Rt Revd Prof. N.T. Wright, Former Bishop of Durham, Research Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity, University of St Andrews.

By identifying the critical central contradictions that are built into the politics of the Horn of Africa, this book demonstrates that the crises of the Horn states stem from their political behaviour and structural forces, such as internal social forces, and global forces that have become involved on the sides of these states without requiring accountability, the rule of law, or the implementation of, at least, 'limited democracy'.
The contributors provide a deep understanding of structural and conjunctural forces that have interacted in the processes of state power; the role of intervention of global powers; and the consequent failure to build state as a public domain. The book also enriches our social scientific knowledge that is essential to develop pragmatic policy measures to address these problems.

'Mario Aguilar makes a convincing case in arguing that the silence of the cloister can speak powerfully and prophetically to the world at large. His book on Thomas Merton is a welcome addition to the scholarly literature on the twentieth century's most influential Christian monk.' Lawrence S. Cunningham, John A. O'Brien Professor of Theology, University of Notre Dame, USA

In late 20th-century India, Christian-Hindu dialogue was forever transformed following the opening of Shantivanam, the first Christian ashram in the country. Mario I. Aguilar brings together the histories of the five pioneers of Christian-Hindu dialogue and their involvement with the ashram, to explore what they learnt and taught about communion between the two religions, and the wide ranging consequences of their work. The author expertly threads together the lives and friendships between these men, while uncovering the Hindu texts they used and were influenced by, and considers how far some of them became, in their personal practice, Hindu. Ultimately, this book demonstrates the impact of this history on contemporary dialogue between Christians and Hindus, and how both faiths can continue to learn and grow together.

This book outlines the life of spiritual diplomacy of the 14th Dalai Lama and his emergence as a global peace icon. It traces his evolution as a Tibetan Buddhist monk rooted in the Geluk tradition, as a Nobel laureate, and as an internationally recognized peacemaker. The volume brings to the fore the Dalai Lama's monastic life grounded in the compassion and ethical responsibility of a bodhisattva, somebody who is willing to renounce samsara for the benefit of others, as well as that of a political leader of Tibet. It examines the deep impact of his ideas of peacekeeping and universal responsibility on world politics, which draw on acceptance, inclusion, and respect as their central pillars. Further, this book highlights his departure from the practices of the earlier Dalai Lamas, and how the Chinese invasion and his exile in India transformed him into a universal figure of peace, rather than solely being the leader of Tibet. An introspective read, this book will be of much interest to readers interested in spiritual diplomacy and political philosophy. It will also be of interest to scholars and researchers of peace and conflict studies, international relations, politics, and religion, especially Buddhism.

This work proposes a theological investigation of the community of the Church as outlined by liberation theology and a possible conversation with liberation from suffering in Tibetan Buddhism. What unites both is the human process of sublimation for others, whereby liberation theologians as well as enlightened lamas give the best of themselves for the liberation of others. At this stage of discussions between inclusivists and exclusivists this work proposes that dialogue with world religions and therefore with Buddhism is not about finding possible dogmatic similarities but a common place, a common purpose through a common humanity.

Theology, according to liberation theologians is only a second step. The first is praxis. A liberating praxis puts the poor and the marginalised at the centre. It is found in the collective response of global religious communities responding to crises - and a global pandemic offers an important case in point, reminding religions of our shared humanity, and the need for interreligious cooperation and understanding to effect a positive response. In the context of seismic socio-economic and political change, religion provides a communal response for feeding the poor, fighting for their rights, and challenging the post-colonial financial model that is now beginning to lose its ground. This book blends an examination of emerging research on the socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in marginalised communities, with the author's own research on social and poverty isolation in India, and his own experience as told in diaries written whilst in lockdown in a poor district of Santiago, Chile. It challenges majority world churches and religions in a post-pandemic world to learn from each other and from Jesus' own identification with the outcast, and urges them to take on a way of life and prophetic learning from the world of the poor.

With the Rwandan genocide, Christianity was once again implicated in atrocity. In his latest work, Mario Aguilar contends that a prevailing ecclesiology and theology set the context for the genocidal evil unleashed. Drawing parallels with the political struggles in Latin America, Aguilar applies the lens of liberation theology and detects signs of God's reign returning in the iberating praxis of love at the peripheries of Rwandan life. This hope-filled book stems from Aguilar's conviction that liberation theology remains a necessary hermeneutical tool and force for transformational justice Julie Clague, Department of Theology and Religious Studies, University of Glasgow In exploring, probing, interrogating, the relationships between theology, liberation, and genocide, Mario I. Aguilar follows the path of his friend Marcella Althaus-Reid in analysing "what liberation theologians in Latin America, Africa or Asia have not done." For those of us who do our work in such places, we need read no further without our thoughts filling with a multitude of incomplete tasks in our liberation praxis. But for those of us in Africa, haunted as we by the recent genocide in Rwanda and the continuing genocide perpetrated by HIV and its accomplices, we must read further because we must now "theologize about an absent God or about the silence of God." While we should do this differently from those who have gone before us in Europe after Auschwitz, drawing from the realities and resources of our own African contexts, do this we must. And Aguilar shows us the way. Gerald West, School of Religion and Theology, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa Theology, Liberation and Genocide explores the theological implications of genocide from the point of view of liberation theology. The issue of the mass extermination of people links Latin America and the genocide of indigenous peoples from 1492 to Rwanda and the killing of over one million people in 1994. Despite these links, the issue of genocide has not previously been explored by liberation theologians, and this volume attempts to deal with the issue of God's presence (or absence) within genocide in the context of Rwanda, a country in which the majority are Roman Catholics and in which the killings were not only perpetrated by soldiers, police or militia but also by neighbours, friends and relatives within the Rwandan communes. This theological book argues for the presence of God as victim within genocide rather than the absence of God. God was in Rwanda at the time of the genocide not only comforting her people but also as a victim, tortured and crucified as one of those victims. After the genocide God liberates, her essence, by providing hope and resurrection even in those terrible circumstances. Within this post-genocide theological reflection there is a post-genocidal divine presence in the unburied bones of the victims that speak of memory, of lives and of the lessons of the genocide. Mario Aguilar is Professor of Religion & Politics and Director of the Centre for the Study of Religion & Politics at St Mary's College in the University of St Andrews, Scotland

This work proposes a theological investigation of the community of the Church as outlined by liberation theology and a possible conversation with "liberation" from suffering in Tibetan Buddhism. What unites both is the human process of sublimation for others, whereby liberation theologians as well as enlightened lamas give the best of themselves for the liberation of others. At this stage of discussions between inclusivists and exclusivists this work proposes that dialogue with world religions and therefore with Buddhism is not about finding possible dogmatic similarities but a common place, a common purpose through a common humanity.