Question 1

The Origins

Accepted Answer

De Mazenod Institute of Philosophy (DIP) is one of the major institutes of academics and formation belonging to the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate of St Eugene Province of India. DIP is an academic institute of Philosophy situated in Perambakkam, close to Thiruvallur, Chennai. It is affiliated to Dharmaram Vidya Kshetram (DVK), Pontifical Athaneum, Bengaluru as per the guidelines of Veritatis Gaudium of Dicastery for Culture and Education (DCE), Rome to offer a three-year BPh degree as well as a two-year Diploma for those with a Bachelor degree. We also simultaneously offer a regular secular Bachelor Degree from Madras University through Christ College, Kilachery. It is also a house of formation of Religious and Clerics as per the direction of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI). In this way, our Institute caters to both academic and formative programme and promotes a missionary formation in the multi-religious and multi-cultural context of India. We have been rendering this service to the growth and evangelizing mission of the local church as well as students hailing from various States of India. It is also an honour for the Institute that our Congregation of Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate recognizes De Mazenod Institute as one of the twelve Institutes of Higher Learning. We are proud to be affirmed as a member of this international body viz., Association of Oblate Institutes of Higher Learning (AOIHL) and participate in the annual meeting with a current international theme affecting the Church and society.

Question 2

The Rationale

Accepted Answer

De Mazenod Institute of Philosophy (DIP), Gnanalayam (meaning - the Abode of Wisdom) has a long history. It has taken twenty-five years to reach the present concrete status. As the Oblates arrived from Sri Lanka to India in 1968, they got immersed in parish mission and various other ministries. While being engaged in these activities, they also were very much conscious of the future of the congregation in this great land, India. As a result, they recruited students and began their initial formation in places, like Madras-Mylapore Minor Seminary and Dharmaram College in Bangalore. By this time the Oblates with the help of the Most Rev. Arulappa, Archbishop of Madras Mylapore got St. Paul's Institute to house our students in initial formation. Thus, in August 1976 the first full-pledged formation house came into existence at St Paul's Institute. These Scholastics went for their philosophy and theology studies to Sacred Heart Seminary, Poonamallee, Chennai. Since, Sacred Heart Seminary passed a rule that all the students should have completed their secular degree before taking up the philosophical studies. Oblates sent the students to Loyola College for three batches of students; but we found that the programme was not successful. So, we decided to send our students to Dharmaram College to do philosophy, while a bachelor degree was simultaneously taken through correspondence course in a recognized university. As a consequence, in June 1990 the students of philosophy were shifted from St. Paul's to Nivedanam Bangalore. It is also important to note that our students have been faring very well in studies.

As the Indian Oblate Delegation kept growing and number of the students kept increasing, the dreams of Indian Oblate Philosophate was envisioned and ways were explored for a strong future of the Oblate formation in India. The vision of our own philosophate was born in 1997 Congress with Fr. Selvaratnam, OMI, from the year 1998 we started to qualify oblates in Master Degree in Philosophy. In the Delegation Congress held in 2007, the members unanimously suggested to begin our own oblate philosophate and gave the time limit to decide and execute it by 2010. Hence, after the Delegation was elevated to a Province on 29 May 2010, the provincial council carefully examining the pros and cons of having our own philosophate decided to concretize the vision of having its philosophate by commencing it at Gnanalayam in Perambakkam, Thiruvallur District, Tamil Nadu. Students resided in De Mazenod Illam while other classes, liturgy, meals and games were in Gnanalayam. The following academic year 2011, the Juniorate was shifted to Bangalore and Gnanalayam was christened as De Mazenod Institute of Philosophy.

Question 3

The Progress and ongoing Orientation

Accepted Answer

We initially planned to affiliate this Institute to the Faculty of Philosophy, St Paul's University, Ottawa, administered by the Oblate Fathers of Notre Dame du Cap Province, Quebec, Canada. As this did not get through, we proted of the invitation to work with Indra Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU). From 2012 -2013 to 2019-2020, De Mazenod Institute was a Special Study Centre (SSC) under IGNOU (Indira Gandhi National Open University) which offered a three-year Bachelor degree programme courses. Our students were enrolled in IGNOU for their B.A and M.A. Philosophy. However, along with the IGNOU syllabus, DIP offered courses in line with the recommendations of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI). The students from other religious institutes joined our Institute and got benefitted in receiving BA Philosophy from IGNOU and Philosophy Degree from our Institute.

Due to some political changes at the national level and at IGNOU, DIP was not willing to continue to be a Special Study Centre of IGNOU. In Nov 2018 onwards the process of affiliation to the Faculty of Philosophy in Dharmaram Vidya Kshetram, Bengaluru, was set on motion by meeting the President of Dharmaram (DVK) and on 11 July 2019 continued with the second meeting of the team constituted for affiliation works. In the meantime, an evaluation of this institute was taken up by the administration in Feb 2020. So, an extensive evaluation of De Mazenod Institute of Philosophy over a long period (07 Feb 2020 to 28 Aug 2021) was taken up by a team of five members headed by Fr. David Kumar, the formation councillor. Provincial and council asked Fr Harry Immanuel, the dean and the former rector of the institute and the head of the evaluation team to present the findings to the Provincial council on 28 Aug 2021. 95% of the members in the evaluation process, both students and staff were positive about the program of academics, of formation, of the infrastructure and the result of overall growth of the institute. One of the recommendations was also to work on the affiliation works with Dharmaram and invite also non-Oblate students from other units to our Institute.

In the process of affiliation on 18 Sept 2019 an official visitation team from Dharmaram (DVK) came to De Mazenod Institute to inspect on campus, facilities, library, and other infrastructural needs for an academic institute seeking affiliation. On 08 Dec 2019 the basic documents required for affiliation were submitted to Dharmaram. We are aware of the new guidelines from the Dicastery for Culture and Education (DCE) on Veritatis Gaudeum on 27 Dec 2017, the Feast of St. John, the Evangelist and Instruction on Affiliation of Institutes of Higher Learning on 08 Dec 2020. Attending to all the statutory and documentary needs in line with the directives of Dicastery for Culture and Education (DCE) we submitted the essential documents on 16 Oct 2021. With all the documents and corrections sorted out two different communications from Rome were finally submitted on 10th July 2023 to the President and Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy, Dharmaram (DVK). We are indeed happy that DIP got affiliated to the faculty of Philosophy, DVK on 11th March 2024. This year we have positive responses of a few Congregations to send their students. Their responses are encouraging. The Religious Orders seek formation both academic and clerical from Institutes administered by Religious missionary Orders responding to the situation of India. The De Mazenod Institute is more advantaged because we are able to offer students both secular and ecclesiastical degree in three years: regular secular degree from Christ College, Kilachery in the University of Madras as well as ecclesiastical degree from Dharmaram Vidya Kshetram, Pontifical Athenaeum as we are currently an affiliated institute of DVK.

HISTORY

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