www.theologyofinternet.com: Concept Paper

1. What

Theologyofinternet.com is a collaborative e-Journal intended to develop, articulate and advance a Theology of Internet for the church.

2. Why

Pope John Paul II championed “Theology of Body”, which was the need of the time. This initiative identifies that the “Theology of Internet” is the need of the present and the future. Pope Benedict XVI identified social networks as the new ‘agora’ and therefore new spaces for evangelization in his 2013 Message for the 47th World Communications Day. He wrote:

“It falls, in particular, to young people, who have an almost spontaneous affinity for the new means of communication, to take on the responsibility for the evangelization of this ‘digital continent”.

Whenever we discovered a continent in the past, the church always sent its missionaries. The role of those missionaries was to risk formidable challenges to spread the Good News of Jesus, with great courage and faith. In the same way, missionaries are needed to venture into this newly discovered ‘continent’ of the digital environment and proclaim the Good News.

Success and sustainability of this new missionary movement will depend upon the strength of the theological foundations on which this movement is built. The collaborative blog - theologyofinternet.com – is intended to provide a platform to articulate and develop this new theology of Internet, which will be an important part of the New Evangelization efforts of the church.

3. How

The collaborative  e-Journal -  theologyofinternet.com - will showcase peer-reviewed articles on digital technologies, Internet, social networking, etc and its relevance to the Church and evangelization.

·      Patrons – Cardinals of the Church

Cardinal Baselios Mar Cleemis, Major Archbishop of Syro-Malankara Church (confirmed)

Cardinal George Pell, Archdiocese of Sydney (proposed).

Cardinal George Alanchery, Major Archbishop of Syro-Malabar Church (proposed).

·      Chief Advisor –

Bishop Emeritus Gratian Mundadan CMI (confirmed).

·      Advisors – Bishops of the Church, other eminent personalities

Bishop Christopher Prowse, Diocese of Sale, AUS (proposed).

Bishop Bosco Puthur, Curia Bishop, Syro-Malabar Church (confirmed).

Fr Dr Thomas Aykkara CMI, Rector, CMI Major Seminary, Bangalore (confirmed).

Fr Tony Percy, Rector, Good Shepherd Seminary, Sydney (proposed).

Fr Dr Antony Kariyil, Director, Rajagiri School of Engineering and Technology, Kochi (confirmed).

·      Chief Editor – Fr Dr Jaison Mulerikkal CMI

·      Editors – Scholars in the field.

  Fr Dr Kurian Kachapilly CMI, Asso. Director, Research Center, Christ University, Bangalore (confirmed).

  Fr Dr Jose Kuriedath CMI, Sociology Expert, CMI General Councillor (confirmed).

·      Reviewers – Experts in the field

 Fr Dr John Armstrong, Parish Priest, South Tuggeranong, ACT, Australia (confirmed).

 Fr Benny Nalkara, Lecturer, Dept of Theology, DVK, Bangalore (confirmed).

Fr Roy Palatty, PhD student, Catholic University, Louvain (confirmed).

Fr Dr Nandikkara Jose CMI, Dept of Philosophy, DVK, Bangalore (confirmed).

 Fr Rubin Thottupuram, Asst. Professor, Amal Jyothi Engineering College, Kerala (confirmed).

Fr Richard M Healey, Asso. Pastor, Camden, NSW, AUS (confirmed).

·      Sub Editors – Those who ensure adherence to e-Journal's bibliographic and textual style. Also proof readers.

  MGL Sisters, Australia (proposed).

  Ms Sneha Antony, Brisbane, AUS (confirmed).
Ms Beth Doherty, ACT, Australia (confirmed).
Fr James Thayil, Rajkot, India (confirmed).

·      Contributors – Those who publish articles.

·      Profile Manager – Brother Jeff Shawn CMI, Dharmaram College, Bangalore (confirmed).

·      Tech Team –

  Mr Jisso Jose, Managing Director & Co-Founder at Totient Business Solutions, Bangalore (confirmed).

 Mr Jobin Jose, Technical Staff, Rajagiri School of Engineering and Technology, Kochi (confirmed).

·      Technology Support - Rajagiri School of Engineering and Technology, Kochi (www.rajagiritech.ac.in).

e-Journal will allow contributors/authors to submit articles and users to access them and search by keywords or authors. It will provide permalinks to each article to uniquely refer it and access it for reference purposes.

Theologyofinternet.com will function under the auspice of its patrons. The chief editor will appoint an editorial board by invitation, in consultation with the chief advisory. The chief editor or editors shall review articles or delegate them to reviewers. The articles are scrutinized for format and proofread by sub-editors. After review process, the article is published in the blog.