Thesis advisor: James W. Morris / This dissertation is a comparative phenomenological and theological analysis on Catholic and Muslim traditions of pilgrimage to sacred tombs and shrines in south central Java, Indonesia. Both in the Muslim and Christian traditions, pilgrimage is a rich and complex religious practice that has served as a privileged milieu in which pilgrims and their communities attempt to foster diverse kinds of communion with God and His spiritual company of saints and other sacred figures, including the founders and paradigmatic ancestors of the local community. Precisely due to its richness and complexity as a spiritual and religio-cultural practice driven by the deeper and inclusive dynamics of communion, pilgrimage has also become a crucial practice in which a distinctive and hybrid religio-cultural identity is forged and negotiated in creative and fruitful ways--among others through the process of engaging various forms of otherness including other religious traditions and cultures--in the context of a long historical continuum that is also marked by tensions and ambiguities. Based on the underlying and multifaceted category of communion with God, the self, and the other that lies at the heart of the pilgrimage traditions in Islam and Catholicism, and guided by the method of the new comparative theology, this study attempts to offer a focused analysis of the major ways in which this dynamic of communion is played out in the deeper shared features and intimate encounters that exist between these two pilgrimage traditions in south central Java. Carried out from the perspective of the Catholic tradition, this study also seeks to explore the ways in which the extraordinary depth and breadth of these dynamics of communion in the Muslim and Catholic pilgrimage traditions--that in Catholic theology can be placed under the inclusive category of the work of the Spirit (pneumatology)--can serve as a creative avenue for a comparative theological enrichment of our contemporary understanding of the Catholic doctrine and practice of communio sanctorum ("communion of saints and the holy"). Drawing from both the most salient features of both the Muslim and Catholic pilgrimage practices in south central Java as well as the corresponding insights from the larger Islamic and Catholic traditions, this proposed pneumatological framework for a renewed understanding of the Catholic theology of communio sanctorum can be seen as the modest constructive fruit of this study's comparative theological engagement with the dynamics of pilgrimage in these two traditions. Through this process, the Catholic theology and practice of communio sanctorum is also made more richly anchored in the Catholic principles of communion, mediation, and sacramentality. And since this very process includes other religious tradition(s), the Catholic doctrine of communio sanctorum becomes remarkably inclusive and expansive as well, thus becoming a profoundly "catholic" theological vision. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2011. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Theology.

With globalization the subject of partnership has become one of the main issues in World Mission. Partnerships are formed in all parts of the world in order to promote collaboration between churches, denominations, and mission organizations. Although good partner relationships are a desired objective, historical prejudices and cultural differences and bias lead to barriers which hinder good partnership relations. How can these barriers be overcome? Christian partnerships are usually only based on a collaboration of the partners and the Christian aspect in a relationship in World Mission is neglected. This study presents a theological basis for a Christian relationship in World Mission, coming from the creation of the human being in the image of God, the communion within the Trinity, especially the concepts of “kenosis” and “koinonia,” and the image of the Body of Christ. A second part of this study researches the historical and sociological aspects of partnership in order to identify barriers for a good partner relationship. The findings of the theological research will then be compared with the outcomes of the historical and sociological study and conclusions for an improvement should be presented. The foundation for mission-church relationship in a global context needs to be a spiritual relationship, since the acting partners come together on a basis of their Christian faith and are part of the universal Body of Christ. The kenotic attitude of the partners plays a major role in their relationship and the proposed model for functioning relationships in World Mission needs to be an organic-complementary communion. The last part then presents a new model for the relationship in World Mission, in which several elements of organic-complementary communion are described. These elements are living together in the Body of Christ, learning together, serving together, suffering and celebrating together, sharing together, working together, and discovering theology together. The study concludes with a proposal of a concept of a “common space” in order to show how such a new model could be lived out in the everyday relationships in World Mission. / Christian Spirituality, Church History & Missiology / D. Th. (Missiology)

With globalization the subject of partnership has become one of the main issues in World Mission. Partnerships are formed in all parts of the world in order to promote collaboration between churches, denominations, and mission organizations. Although good partner relationships are a desired objective, historical prejudices and cultural differences and bias lead to barriers which hinder good partnership relations. How can these barriers be overcome? Christian partnerships are usually only based on a collaboration of the partners and the Christian aspect in a relationship in World Mission is neglected. This study presents a theological basis for a Christian relationship in World Mission, coming from the creation of the human being in the image of God, the communion within the Trinity, especially the concepts of “kenosis” and “koinonia,” and the image of the Body of Christ. A second part of this study researches the historical and sociological aspects of partnership in order to identify barriers for a good partner relationship. The findings of the theological research will then be compared with the outcomes of the historical and sociological study and conclusions for an improvement should be presented. The foundation for mission-church relationship in a global context needs to be a spiritual relationship, since the acting partners come together on a basis of their Christian faith and are part of the universal Body of Christ. The kenotic attitude of the partners plays a major role in their relationship and the proposed model for functioning relationships in World Mission needs to be an organic-complementary communion. The last part then presents a new model for the relationship in World Mission, in which several elements of organic-complementary communion are described. These elements are living together in the Body of Christ, learning together, serving together, suffering and celebrating together, sharing together, working together, and discovering theology together. The study concludes with a proposal of a concept of a “common space” in order to show how such a new model could be lived out in the everyday relationships in World Mission. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / D. Th. (Missiology)