Bombay Province has had Jesuit intellectuals who taught the social sciences, chiefly in St Xavier’s College, Mumbai. They encouraged their students to go beyond the classroom and do ‘action-research’ that familiarised them ‘social analysis’. This was done clearly to promote a culture of research and reflection among the students. Two Jesuits who stand out in this endeavour are the late Fr. Joseph Macia, a Spanish Jesuit and Fr. Rudolph C Heredia, a well known sociologist. Among others who promoted serious research are Frs. Frazer Mascarenhas, former Principal of the College, and Arun de Souza, the present Provincial. Fr. Heredia had the vision to found the Social Science Centre (SSC) in 1980. He was its first Director. This Centre is now known as the Xavier Institute of Social Research & Action (XISR) with this writer as its current Director. It was shifted to Nashik in 2016 as proposed by the Province’s Strategic Apostolic Planning Team.

Anthony Dias, SJ

The author is the Director of ‘Xavier Institute of Social Research’ (XISR), Nashik, Maharashtra.