Aim of the project: This project will study the socio-historical evolution of ‘Jesuit science’ (scientific activity of Catholic missionaries belonging to the Jesuit Order) in India, after India gained freedom from British rule in 1947. Specifically, the project will examine the nexus between scientific research and the social justice mandate of the Jesuits in the Madurai Province.

Need for the project: The engagement of minority religious groups with science in postcolonial India remains largely unexplored. Studying the scientific engagement of Indian Jesuits will serve as a pilot for later explorations of science and Christianity in India.

Madurai is relevant because it was the earliest mission station established by the Jesuits in India, after the Vatican restored the Order in 1814. Madurai has produced the largest number of Jesuit scientists in India. The period 1952-2019 is relevant because the Madurai Province was established in 1952 and bifurcated into two provinces – Chennai and Madurai – in 2019.

Specific research questions: The relation between Jesuit science and their social justice mission (decreed by the Jesuit Curia in 1975) in India remains unexplored. The project will interrogate this by asking:

1. How have the Madurai Jesuits engaged with science in postcolonial India? Was this engagement different in colonial India? What were the reasons for the differences (if any)?
2. How have the changing circumstances of Christianity and science in postcolonial India impacted the nature of Jesuit scientific activity there?
3. How have the Madurai Jesuit priest-scientists responded to the social justice mission mandate?

Project activities: The above research questions will be addressed using qualitative analysis of the following:

1. Scientific publications authored by Madurai Jesuits, before and after 1947
2. Official documents published by the Jesuits after 1947
3. Personal reflections of Madurai Jesuit scientists published in Jesuit periodicals and from interviews

Project outputs will include presentation of findings at an international conference, a draft journal manuscript, two blog posts and a bibliographical note on scientific publications of Madurai Jesuits. Findings will also be presented to Jesuits by publication in a national Jesuit magazine.

Impact of project to INSBS and beyond:

This project contributes to the goals of INSBS by examining how science-religion relations can intersect with issues of social justice. By analysing scientific activities of Jesuit missionaries in India, the project helps to understand changes in the relationship between science and religion within a minority religious group in India, thus encouraging similar investigations in relation to other religious traditions in the global South.