Coelho, Ivo 1958–

PERSONAL: Born October 15, 1958, in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India; son of Ignatius Paul and Luiza Nellie (a homemaker; maiden name, Cardoz) Coelho. Education: Jnana Deepa Vidyapeeth, B.Phil., 1979, M.Phil., 1981; University of Pune, B.A., 1980; Kristu Jyoti College, B.Th., 1988; Pontifical Gregorian University, Ph.D., 1994. Religion: Roman Catholic.

ADDRESSES: Home and office—Don Bosco Provincial House, Post Bag 16.637, Matunga, Mumbai 400 019, India; fax: 91-22-414-5226. E-mail—provincialoffice@vsnl.com.

CAREER: Roman Catholic priest of the Society of St. Francis de Sales; Divyadaan: Salesian Institute of Philosophy, teacher, 1981–83, 1988–90, 1994–2002, principal, 1988–90, rector, 1994–2002; Province of St. Francis Xavier of the Salesians of Don Bosco, Matunga, Mumbai, India, provincial, 2002–. Divyadaan: Salesian Institute of Philosophy, lecturer and chair of gnoseology and metaphysics, 2000–; University of Madras, guest lecturer, 2003; Boston College, guest speaker at several Lonergan Workshops; seminar leader.

MEMBER: Association of Christian Philosophers of India.

WRITINGS:

(Editor, with J. Kuttianimattathil) In One Salutation to Thee: A Collection of Prayers and Readings from the Various Religious Traditions, Don Bosco Youth Animation-India (Bangalore, India), 1985, revised as In One Salutation, Inter-Religious Harmony Movement (Bangalore, India), 2002.

Hermeneutics and Method: The "Universal Viewpoint" in Bernard Lonergan, University of Toronto Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2001.

Contributor to books, including Interrelations and Interpretation: Philosophical Reflections on Science, Religion, and Hermeneutics in Honour of Richard De Smet, S.J., and Jean de Marneffe, S.J., edited by Job Kozhamthadam, Intercultural Publications (New Delhi, India), 1997. Contributor to periodicals, including Awakening Faith. Editor, Divyadaan: Journal of Philosophy and Education, 1988–89, 1999–.

WORK IN PROGRESS: Research on "wisdom" in the work of Bernard Lonergan.

SIDELIGHTS: Ivo Coelho told CA: "I am a Roman Catholic priest belonging to the Society of St. Francis de Sales (more popularly known as the Salesians of Don Bosco). I made my first acquaintance with Bernard J. F. Lonergan during the early years of my philosophical training at Jnana Deepa Vidyapeeth in Pune, more through personal reading than through what was being taught. My interest in this author, who I later discovered was not only philosopher but also theologian and economist, grew through my years of teaching philosophy. When I went to the Gregorian University in Rome for my doctorate in philosophy, I settled on a study of the rather obscure notion of the 'universal viewpoint' in Bernard Lonergan, which is really a cardinal point in the development of Lonergan's hemeneutics.

"My interest in Lonergan stems from deeply personal reasons. I have struggled long with the question: how can one be Roman Catholic today, and yet be intellectually honest and warmly human? Lonergan has given me deeply satisfying answers. I feel convinced now that the importance of these answers transcends my personal quest. I felt convinced that Lonergan had something important to say to people in India. There is an array of positions and counter-positions, not only in the inter-religious area, but also within Indian Christian theology itself. There is need therefore for a method that is not only dialectical, but also dialogical. There is need for thinking and for responsible reflection on basic issues such as experience, truth, objectivity, reality. Lonergan's method, because it calls into play the whole person in his/her intellectual, moral, affective, and religious aspects, is at once dialogical and dialectical. As such, it is able to move beyond soppy sentimentalism to confront, in an irenic way, issues that are truly central in religious and other discourse, and which yet tend to remain hidden. To adapt a phrase from the Indian theologian Felix Wilfred, Lonergan's method envisages the possibility of a dialogue with teeth.

"Beyond talking about dialogue, however, there is the actual task of engaging in dialogue. Here we may envisage inter-religious dialogue, intra-religious dialogue, and theological inculturation, or the transcultural mediation of Christian meanings and values. While some involvement in the first area cannot be avoided altogether, given especially the current resurgence of Hindu consciousness in India, I intend concentrating on the last two areas, because I think Lonergan has an urgent and direct contribution to make to these areas."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Philosophy in Review, December, 2001, Russell W. Dumke, review of Hermeneutics and Method: The "Universal Viewpoint" in Bernard Lonergan, pp. 407-408.

Theological Studies, June, 2002, Richard M. Liddy, review of Hermeneutics and Method, p. 398.