Sebastian Kappen
Encyclopedia
Formation and studies
Born in a traditional family of the Syro-Malabar Catholic ChurchSyro-Malabar Catholic Church
The Syro-Malabar Catholic Church in India is an East Syrian Rite, Major Archiepiscopal Church in full communion with the Catholic Church. It is one of the 22 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in the Catholic Church. It is the largest of the Saint Thomas Christian denominations with more than 3.6...
, Kappen entered the Society of Jesus
Society of Jesus
The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...
at the age of 20 (in 1944), and was ordained priest on the 24 March 1957. He pursued studies at the Gregorian University (Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
), obtaining a doctorate in Theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
(1961) with a thesis on Religious Alienation and Praxis according to Marx’s Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844
Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844
Economic & Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844 are a series of notes written between April and August 1844 by Karl Marx. Not published by Marx during his lifetime, they were first released in 1927 by researchers in the Soviet Union.The notebooks are an early expression of Marx's analysis of...
. This was a time when Marxism
Marxism
Marxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...
was growing in influence in his home state of Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
, in India.
Away from scholasticism
Scholasticism
Scholasticism is a method of critical thought which dominated teaching by the academics of medieval universities in Europe from about 1100–1500, and a program of employing that method in articulating and defending orthodoxy in an increasingly pluralistic context...
, and its essentialism
Essentialism
In philosophy, essentialism is the view that, for any specific kind of entity, there is a set of characteristics or properties all of which any entity of that kind must possess. Therefore all things can be precisely defined or described...
, he found in the Marxian tools of social analysis effective instruments to understand how countless people get alienated from their true freedom and lose their right to contribute to the wellbeing of society.
Evolving thought and action
Henceforth, Freud, MarxKarl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of social science and the socialist political movement...
and the gospel of Mark
Gospel of Mark
The Gospel According to Mark , commonly shortened to the Gospel of Mark or simply Mark, is the second book of the New Testament. This canonical account of the life of Jesus of Nazareth is one of the three synoptic gospels. It was thought to be an epitome, which accounts for its place as the second...
became the dialectical poles of Kappen’s thought and life, in view of liberating the human person from hidden oppressive psychological and social forces. Healing and wholeness are found in the person of Jesus, the Son of God.
His theological stances evoked strong criticism in traditional circles of the Church. In 1972 Kappen moved out of Jesuit large institutions and started living among the poor wherever he was posted: in Cochin, and later in Trivandrum, Madras and Bangalore
Bangalore
Bengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...
as well. Though attempting regularly to bring him back to regular Jesuit community life, his superiors were understanding enough to let him adopt a life-style more conducive to his creative writing. His locus theologicus had necessarily to be the people, and particularly the poor.
His studies were geared towards transformative social action in India. This led him to an investigation into the liberative and humanizing potential of the original teachings of the historical Jesus
Historical Jesus
The term historical Jesus refers to scholarly reconstructions of the 1st-century figure Jesus of Nazareth. These reconstructions are based upon historical methods including critical analysis of gospel texts as the primary source for his biography, along with consideration of the historical and...
(hence his preference for the Gospel of Mark
Gospel of Mark
The Gospel According to Mark , commonly shortened to the Gospel of Mark or simply Mark, is the second book of the New Testament. This canonical account of the life of Jesus of Nazareth is one of the three synoptic gospels. It was thought to be an epitome, which accounts for its place as the second...
) as well as of Indian traditions, particularly the tradition of religious dissent represented by the Buddha
Buddha
In Buddhism, buddhahood is the state of perfect enlightenment attained by a buddha .In Buddhism, the term buddha usually refers to one who has become enlightened...
and the medieval Bhakti Movement
Bhakti movement
The Bhakti movement is a Hindu religious movement in which the main spiritual practice is loving devotion among the Shaivite and Vaishnava saints. The Bhakti movement originated in ancient Tamil Nadu and began to spread to the north during the late medieval ages when north India was under Islamic...
. He has written and lectured extensively on the cultural restructuring of Indian society.
Ever critical of systems, structures and institutions, Kappen’s search was leading him beyond denominational and religious affiliations or political ideology. No political, religious or economic system was absolute: they are all to be valued in the measure they serve the people. He was not to be prisoner of a party and its ideology, not even of a religious one. His yardstick was the freedom of the living God of Jesus; that was also his faith and spirituality.
As could be expected the stand he took for more responsible freedom and less institutional conventionality in Church and society brought him in conflict with the catholic hierarchy.
In 1977, he published Jesus and Freedom, with an introduction by the Belgian priest and professor at the Louvain University François Houtart
François Houtart
François Houtart is a Belgian marxist sociologist and Catholic priest.He studied philosophy and theology at the seminary of Mechelen and became a priest in 1949. He earned a masters degree in political and social sciences at the Catholic University of Leuven . He earned a degree at the...
. The book came under official Church scrutiny. Kappen responded with a pamphlet entitled Censorship and the Future of Asian Theology. He wrote:
“I write with responsibility. There can be defects or errors in my work. I am not infallible. Responsible thinkers and scholars the world over could judge and sift my work. In public discussions we can help each other and learn from one another. That is how truth grows in history: through a social process, and not through secret censorship”.No further action was taken by Church authorities on this matter.
Kappen had been visiting professor to the Pontifical Faculty of Theology
Jnana-Deepa Vidyapeeth
Jnana-Deepa Vidyapeeth is a Pontifical Institute for Philosophy and Religions, located at Pune, India. It caters predominantly to the philosophical and theological formation of catholic priests in India with a student population of more than 750 and faculty of 25.In 70's and 80's it was the...
(Pune), Vidyajyoti College of Theology
Vidyajyoti College of Theology
Vidyajyoti College of Theology , Delhi, India, is a institute and faculty of theology run by the Jesuits. It was started in 1879 in Asansol, West Bengal, as a modest 'Saint Joseph’s Seminary'. From 1889 to 1971 it developed in the mountains of Kurseong, near Darjeeling, where it was renamed Saint...
(Delhi), The Catholic University of Louvain (Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
) and Maryknoll
Maryknoll
Maryknoll is a name shared by three organizations that are part of the Roman Catholic Church and whose joint focus is on the overseas mission activity of the Catholic Church in the United States...
Seminary (New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
).
From the late 1980s he started having heart problems. He stopped smoking. He had also to slow down his intellectual pursuits. He was particularly incensed by the senseless bombing of Iraq’s people during the gulf war
Gulf War
The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...
of 1990-1991: a reaction typical of a man often genuinely angry at the sight of injustices committed against innocent civilians. This brought about, according to some, the serious heart crisis that ultimately led to the attack that carried him away on the 30 November 1993. Kappen died in Bangalore
Bangalore
Bengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...
, but his body was brought back to Calicut where he is buried.
Kappen's Unpublished Poem
WHAT THE THUNDER SAYSAbstract: According to the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, once human beings, gods, and demons approached Prajapati, their father and teacher, with the request that they be instructed. To humans he said Da, Meaning data, give; to the gods he said Da, meaning damyata, control yourselves; to the demons he said the same Da, meaning dayathvam, be compassionate. The Upanishadic seer comments that the same massage is repeated to men and women by the heavenly voice of thunder: Da, Da, Da. The three categories of beings mentioned are best understood as three types of human beings.
(Written and Sent in 1984 by Fr. Kappen to Mr. O. M. George, Jwala, Vazhakkulam)
Da, data, give
In the beginning was man
And man was desire.
The desire that desired was not yet conscious,
having neither form nor name,
welling up from the fathomless deeps
where spirit lay dormant in flesh.
Nor had what desire desired name or form,
beings no more than a void of fullness.
Desire then became aware of itself,
aware of the world around,
desiring this and that,
desiring to have more, to know more, to be more.
Desire brought this our world into being
and narrated itself into history.
History is the story of man's passion
for the not-yet-born, the not-yet-made.
History is the human caravan on the march
in search of the longed-for land.
Kill desire,
and the caravan comes to a stop.
Desire fell, when it took
means for the end,
having for being,
fission for fusion.
Desire, estranged, fashioned mine and thine,
ever seeking to make thine mine.
Desiring to enlarge the sphere of the mine,
the whites colonized the Black,
the brain colonized the brawn,
the phallus colonized the yoni.
Thus did the human fold back on itself,
like a snake eating its own tail,
like a mother sucking her own breasts,
in Narcissistic self-loving.
Thus was opened the way
to chaos and dissolution.
Still the heavens thunder:
Da, data, give.
Let your desiring be a giving;
let your taking be a bestowing.
Blessed are those who give;
more blessed those for whom
being is being-for-others,
being is being-given away.
Take not what is not given,
give to him who asks.
The measure you give
is the measure you will receive.
Damyata, control yourself
Man is heir to the violence of aeons,
when life fed on decay and death.
Down in the dark abyss of his being
the ocean rumbles,
the lion roars,
the serpent hisses.
Conceived in the violence of sex,
born in the violence of a primal rupture,
he ends his days in the violence of death.
There is a violence inherent in all striving,
premiss to all growing and expanding.
No moulding of new forms
without destroying the old.
The ploughman must breach the tellurian hymen;
the gardener must prune the innocent sapling;
the carpenter must fell the living tree
and ply his tool to the yielding wood.
stones must be broken before monuments can rise:
all creation is a groaning in travail.
But beware of all violence that ends in death;
beware of all violence that spells violation.
You violate the earth when you plough it up
to sow your bombs and plant your missiles.
You violate your kind when you bend their wills
to your own will lusting for power.
You violate your SELF
when you snuff out the flame within,
when you smother the surge of life and love.
Hearken hence to the voice of thunder:
Da, damyata,
control yourself.
Let not violence mate with desire to beget death;
let violence mate with desire to beget life.
Let all violence be ensouled with love
and be handmaid to wholeness of life.
Carpenters control their timber;
and he holy control their soul.
Deny yourself, son of Man,
take up your cross and follow him
who has gone before thee.
Dayathvam, be compassionate
But why control oneself? Because
the master and the slave are one,
the teacher and the taught are one,
the hangman and the hung are one,
the moulder and moulded are one:
one seamless garment,
one human continuum,
one plasma, one flesh, one blood,
we are one before we are many.
And why give at all, Because
the giver and the taker are one,
the rich and the poor are one,
the seamless garment,
one human continuum,
one plasma, one flesh, one blood,
we are one before we are many.
So the heavens thunder:
Da, dayathvam,
Be Compassionate.
Feel with the earth your mother,
Desire then became aware of itself,
aware of the world around,
desiring this and that,
desiring to have more, to know more, to be more.
Desire brought this our world into being
and narrated itself into history.
History is the story of man's passion
for the not-yet-born, the not-yet-made.
History is the human caravan on the march
in search of the longed-for land.
Kill desire,
and the caravan comes to a stop.
Desire fell, when it took
means for the end,
having for being,
fission for fusion.
Desire, estranged, fashioned mine and thine,
ever seeking to make thine mine.
Desiring to enlarge the sphere of the mine,
the whites colonized the Black,
the brain colonized the brawn,
the phallus colonized the yoni.
Thus did the human fold back on itself,
like a snake eating its own tail,
like a mother sucking her own breasts,
in Narcissistic self-loving.
Thus was opened the way
to chaos and dissolution.
Still the heavens thunder:
Da, data, give.
Let your desiring be a giving;
let your taking be a bestowing.
Blessed are those who give;
more blessed those for whom
being is being-for-others,
being is being-given away.
Take not what is not given,
give to him who asks.
The measure you give
is the measure you will receive.
Damyata, control yourself
Man is heir to the violence of aeons,
when life fed on decay and death.
Down in the dark abyss of his being
the ocean rumbles,
the lion roars,
the serpent hisses.
Conceived in the violence of sex,
born in the violence of a primal rupture,
he ends his days in the violence of death.
There is a violence inherent in all striving,
premiss to all growing and expanding.
No moulding of new forms
without destroying the old.
The ploughman must breach the tellurian hymen;
the gardener must prune the innocent sapling;
the carpenter must fell the living tree
and ply his tool to the yielding wood.
stones must be broken before monuments can rise:
all creation is a groaning in travail.
But beware of all violence that ends in death;
beware of all violence that spells violation.
You violate the earth when you plough it up
to sow your bombs and plant your missiles.
You violate your kind when you bend their wills
to your own will lusting for power.
You violate your SELF
when you snuff out the flame within,
when you smother the surge of life and love.
Hearken hence to the voice of thunder:
Da, damyata,
control yourself.
Let not violence mate with desire to beget death;
let violence mate with desire to beget life.
Let all violence be ensouled with love
and be handmaid to wholeness of life.
Carpenters control their timber;
and he holy control their soul.
Deny yourself, son of Man,
take up your cross and follow him
who has gone before thee.
Dayathvam, be compassionate
But why control oneself? Because
the master and the slave are one,
the teacher and the taught are one,
the hangman and the hung are one,
the moulder and moulded are one:
one seamless garment,
one human continuum,
one plasma, one flesh, one blood,
we are one before we are many.
And why give at all, Because
the giver and the taker are one,
the rich and the poor are one,
the seamless garment,
one human continuum,
one plasma, one flesh, one blood,
we are one before we are many.
So the heavens thunder:
Da, dayathvam,
Be Compassionate.
Feel with the earth your mother,
feel with the human kind,
Be a womb to the world being born;
bear each the other's passion;
that the morrow might see a risen earth
and a humanity made human.
Hate is not conquered by hate:
hate is conquered by love:
This is a law eternal.
Always treat others
as you would like them to treat you:
This is the law and the prophets.
feel with the human kind,
Be a womb to the world being born;
bear each the other's passion;
that the morrow might see a risen earth
and a humanity made human.
Hate is not conquered by hate:
hate is conquered by love:
This is a law eternal.
Always treat others
as you would like them to treat you:
This is the law and the prophets.
Writings in English
- Jesus and Freedom, Orbis Books, New York, 1977.
- Marxian Atheism, 1983.
- Jesus and Cultural Revolution; an Asian Perspective, 1983.
- Liberation Theology and Marxism, 1986.
- The Future of Socialism and Socialism of the Future, Bangalore, 1992.
Writings in Malayalam
- Vswäsathilninnu Viplavathilèkku (From Faith to Revolution),1972.
- Marxian Darsśnathinu Orämukham (An Introduction to the Philosophy of Marx), 1989
- Pravachanam Prathisamskruthi (Prophecy and Counterculture),1992.
- Akraistavanäya Yèśuviné Thèdi (In Search of the Non-Christian Jesus), 1999 (posthumous).
Posthumous publications
- Tradition Modernity Counterculture, 1994.
- Hindutva and Indian Religious Traditions, 2000.
- Divine Challenge and Human Response, 2001.
- Jesus and Society, ISPCK, Delhi, 2002.
- Jesus and Culture, ISPCK, Delhi, 2002.
- Towards a Holistic Cultural Paradigm, 2003.
in English
- Philip Mathew and Ajit Murickan (ed), Religion, Ideology and counterculture; Essays in honour of S.Kappen, Bangalore, 1987.
in Malayalam
- Prathi-samskruthiyilekku (Counterculture Thoughts of Fr. Sebastian Kappen), Manusham Publications, Ettumanoor, 2008.