Duc in Altum

Published in Dominican Ashram, Vol. 5 Issue 4 (December 2023), pp. 159-167. Reproduced with permission. “A Jesuit, a Franciscan and a Dominican…” This brings to mind the many anecdotes that one hears about them from time to time. The underlying assumption here is that these three great religious families have always had their own very distinctive and differentiated approach to life and its many challenges. But could the spiritualities of the great founders Francis of Assisi, Dominic de Guzman, and Ignatius of Loyola, despite their unique approaches have some common ground and compatibility with each other? This question came to the fore when on that rainy evening of 13 March 2013, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was presented to the Church from the Balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, as Pope Francis. Many in the Church were surprised that this first “Francis,” a son of St. Ignatius, was the first Jesuit to occupy the chair of St. Peter as head of the Catholic Church. On the very ne...

Published in Dominican Ashram , Vol. 3 Issue 3 (September 2021), pp. 117-121. Reproduced with permission. In the year 1321, seven centuries ago, a zealous Dominican missionary, Jordan de Catalani of Severac, together with four Franciscan companions, arrived in India, having left from Tabriz in Persia and sailing along the coast to reach Thane (off present-day Mumbai) on the shores of the West Coast of India. They were not the first friars to visit the country. About thirty years earlier, the Franciscan Giovanni da Monte Corvino and the Dominican Nicolo di Pistoia had arrived in South India en route to their mission in China. However, due to the promising prospects of missionary work in India, Nicolo was asked to stay on in South India to care for the small Christian community in the Mylapore region. Unfortunately, his plans came to an abrupt end with his untimely sickness and death. So, Jordan and his companions had stepped in to fill this vacancy, hopeful of reaping an abundant harves...