There are books and books: some are meant to decorate bookshelves, others are read and forgotten and then are still others when internalised are inspirational, motivating the reader to action; ‘If Not Now, When? Disquieting Feminist Questions’ clearly belongs to the last category. Edited by Astrid Lobo Gajiwala, Kochurani Abraham and Prashant Olalekar SJ the anthology challenges, it disquiets and if taken seriously will force one out of one’s complacency, comfort zone! It is a must-read and a ‘must-act-upon-now’ book!

The book has three parts: 1. Voices from the Margins 2. The Personal is Political 3. Patriarchy, Power and the Catholic Church. Twenty-five essays, interviews and insightful articles fill the almost three-hundred pages tome. The contributors belong to the entire spectrum of society: different voices but one in heart, soul and mind!  The style throughout is racy without being superficial, raising pertinent questions and simultaneously providing possible answers, contents which are provocative yet positive. For a discerning reader, it does not make for comfortable reading – it is not meant to do so- it is meant to ‘disquiet’ and it does so with brutal questions enveloped in sensitivity and finesse! Given the way clericalism and patriarchy are steeped in church and country, there will be many who will not take kindly to the book. This is to be expected!

 Astrid Lobo Gajiwala in her ‘Editorial’ says, “this collection of essays is a chorus of feminist voices who speak truth to power, reclaim suppressed spiritualties, and dare to dream and to dissent. It brings to the centre, voices from the margins, in the form of conversations (some translated from other languages) and stories of unlettered and unknown women who have paid a heavy price for refusing to be “silent spectators”. It celebrates peoples’ movements that rise against targeted attacks on the constitutional rights of the people of India; global campaigns that fight for the rights of women in the Church; and the advocacy for earth democracy that goes beyond the concerns of humans to justice for nature, protection of livelihoods, and the free sharing of the earth’s resources.”

February 2022 was a special month dedicated to religious sisters and other consecrated women in the Catholic Church. Pope Francis in a style which has come to characterise him told religious sisters in a video message to fight back when they are treated unfairly or “reduced to servitude” by men of the Church. “I encourage all consecrated women to discern and choose what is best for their mission in the face of the world’s challenges that we’re experiencing…I invite them to fight when, in some cases, they are treated unfairly, even within the Church; when they serve so much that they are reduced to servitude —at times, by men of the Church”. In several ways this book addresses the Pope’s challenge!

In October 2021, when Prime Minister Modi visited Pope Francis, the Holy Father presented the PM, with a bronze plaque with the incisive words of Prophet Isaiah (32:15) inscribed on it and a powerful symbol engraved. No sentence from Prophet Isaiah however, is a stand-alone; the book focuses on injustices, corruption and wicked rulers. Symbolically enough in 32:9ff the Prophet says “Rise up women who are complacent, hear my voice.”  The anthology of women’s voices ‘If Not Now, when?’ is in fact prophetic like Isaiah-an indictment of patriarchy both in Church and Country; a direction for women to no longer succumb to ‘tokenism’ which men hand-down so condescendingly; but for women to take their rightful and non- negotiable place in Church and Society. Given the UAPS of the Jesuits and the Synodal process begun in the Church, the anthology is a must read and a must act immediately. 

The book was first released on 26 April 2022, at a programme held at ‘Bagaicha’ in Ranchi where Fr Stan Swamy lived. The programme was organised to celebrate Stan’s 85th birth anniversary. Appropriately, “This book is dedicated to Stan Swamy SJ and all defenders of justice, freedom, equality, inclusion and diversity, especially the Bhima Koregaon activists who have taken a stand for justice without counting the cost.”. It also contains some excellent pictures and a range of powerful quotes from Romila Thapar (“We have to recognise the inevitability of dissent in the events that shaped our history and that are now shaping the present.”) to Arundhati Roy (“The only thing worth globalizing is dissent.”)

Fr. Jerome Stanislaus D’ Souza SJ, the President of the Jesuit Conference of South Asia (JCSA) in the ‘Foreword’ to the book says, I am confident that this book will reach many hands and touch many hearts for a radical conversion and redemptive action in all, especially in those people of good will, who are committed to a life of equality, solidarity and justice. “

Given the grim reality both in the country and the Church today - ‘If Not Now, When? Disquieting Feminist Questions’ is timely and much-needed! To listen to those voices who have the courage to ask uncomfortable questions and to do something about them! Whether radical change will come is another matter. It is path-breaking; a step forward since the book pushes one to say It is NOT ‘WHEN?’  IT IS NOW!  It is a call to live and celebrate the feminine face of God in our world today!

*(Fr Cedric Prakash SJ is a human rights, reconciliation and peace activist/writer. Contact: cedricprakash@gmail.com)

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If Not Now, When? Disquieting Feminist Questions
ISBN: 978-81-89762-86-5 
Price: 300/-  pp 300(approx.)
Published by Indian Social Institute 10 Institutional Area, Lodhi Road, New Delhi-110003

Phone No: (011) 49534000 Fax: 0091 (11) 24690660 Email: publication@isidelhi.org.in 
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