This history of the Catholic Church in Asia and the Pacific illuminates the processes of globalization
Since the sixteenth century, Catholicism has contributed significantly to global connectivity. Except for the Philippines and Timor-Leste, Catholicism in Asia is, and is likely to remain, a minority religion. For this reason, it can serve as a unique prism through which to look at the processes of globalization in Asia.
Asian Pacific Catholicism and Globalization demonstrates to scholars and students of Catholic history that the development of Catholicism in Asia and later in the Oceania-Pacific region is closely associated with three different phases of globalization. This book approaches the historical processes of globalization not as structural agencies or causal forces, but rather as the historical contexts that condition possibilities for human action and reaction in the world. The editors identify three distinct phases in the development of Catholicism in Asia and Oceania: early modern (sixteenth–eighteenth centuries), modern Western hegemony (1780s–1960s), and the contemporary (1960s–present). The book’s contributors discuss the development of Catholicism in all the major countries of the region, including China, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Vietnam, India, and Australia.
Reviews
"Asian Pacific Catholicism and Globalization is a major contribution to our understanding of the manner in which the Roman Catholic Church has been both a globalizing force and itself impacted by globalization in various Asian contexts. Drawing upon the theoretical work of José Casanova regarding globalization and religion and following Peter Phan’s insights regarding ‘Christianities’ of Asia, the various chapters illustrate well the rich diversity of historical and contemporary Asian Catholic experience."—Dale T. Irvin, professor, New School of Biblical Theology, and coeditor, Journal of World Christianity,
"A timely and well organized book on topics—Catholicism, globalization, the moral crises of modernity—of enormous importance."—Robert W. Hefner, director, Center for the Study of Asia, Pardee School of Global Affairs, Boston University,
About the Author
José Casanova is one of the world's leading scholars in the sociology of religion and a senior fellow at the Berkley Center at Georgetown University, where his work focuses on globalization, religions, and secularization. His best-known work, Public Religions in the Modern World (1994), has become a modern classic in the field.
Peter C. Phan currently holds the Ignacio Ellacuría, S.J. Chair of Catholic Social Thought at Georgetown University. He is the first non-Anglo to be elected President of the Catholic Theological Society of America and the American Theological Society. His work includes over 30 books and 300 essays.
