Annette Meuthrath Theology from Asian Women's View-point From: Stimmen der Zeit, 2006/4, p. 253-265

Annette Meuthrath Theology from Asian Women's View-point

From: Stimmen der Zeit, 2006/4, p. 253-265webmaster's own, not authorized translation
Asia is a continent which ranges from Turkey - east of Bosporus - to Japan. Behind the five letters, which serve as name for a western geographical definition, a multitude of different cultures is hidden. It could not come to the fore more expressively as at the two "ends" Turkey and Japan. Not any other continent does show such a variety. Accordingly people living in Asia feel themselves not as an integrated whole. Thus even university graduates are often surprised, if one assigns the - seen from us - Near East, i.e. West Asia, to the continent of their own country. The Arab world is nevertheless some entirely own, different, even quite strange and unknown reality. For Asian Christians it is mostly the demarcation toward the west. And the pride in the fact that, as you know, Jesus Christ originates from Asia, let them become aware that West Asia with the Holy Land belongs after all to Asia.
These short remarks may suffice to point out that, if one wanted to do justice to the title of this contribution "Theology from Asian Women's View-point", one had rather to write a work in several volumes than a short essay, which will necessarily remain fragmentary {1}. Therefore I take the liberty and make the same restriction - so natural in the view of many southern and eastern Asians - and confine myself in the following to the area South, South-east and North-east Asia {2} - a 'restriction' which however does not deserve this name really. For we have to do it in this area with such a variety of cultures and peoples, of political, economic and social life contexts. In India alone there are, apart from Hindi and English, still seventeen equally as official languages recognized national, and numerous other languages and dialects. Apart from socialist systems there is the military dictatorship in Myanmar, and at the same time Asia has with India the largest democracy of the world. While countries like Myanmar and Bangladesh belong to the poorest countries in the world, Japan {3}, Taiwan and South Korea are economically strong nations that can quite withstand the global comparison.
But Asia is not only marked by socio-cultural, political and economic differences. So South Asia is the cradle of large world religions such as Buddhism and Hinduism. The life of many Christians in Asia is characterized by this too. They form - except of those on the Philippines, East-Timor and South Korea - often an insignificant small religious minority in their country -

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a fact that distinguishes them clearly from the Christians in Europe, America and Africa. A further, also still today moulding factor for people in Asia is the fact that nearly all countries of Asia were colonies of European colonial powers, or conquered areas, taken by Asian occupation troops, as for example China and Korea, which were occupied by Japan in the first half of the 20th century.

Characteristics and Starting Points
Asian women constitute about a quarter of the world population. They all live in a multi-lingual, multi-religious and multi-ethnical context. Women differ by their ethnical affiliation, their caste, their economic situation, their sexual orientation and by migration (Kwok 2000, 10, 41f.) Despite all differences in languages, conceptions and life circumstances, which made it - according to Kwok Pui-lan, a theologian who originates from China and is today lecturing theology in the USA - difficult for Asian theologians to coin their own term for their liberating theology, there is nevertheless for many Asian theologians a common starting point for their theological work: Asian women's experiences of pain and sorrow are this common basis (Wansbrough 1996, 6).
The Australian theologian Ann Wansbrough quotes in her report on a Workshop of the 'Asian Women's Resource Centre for Culture and Theology' (AWRC), which took place in October 1995 in Kuala Lumpur, from a contribution of the Philippine theologian Elizabeth Tapia, who is teaching in Switzerland now. This contribution outlines the nature of theology from the perspective of Asian women in a splendid way (Wansbrough 1996, 6). The characteristics worked out by Tapia apply also today yet, even if one has to read them through the critical eyeglasses of the challenges to a feministic theology compiled by Kwok Pui-lan and of the South Korean theologian Kang Nam Soon's critique of the common starting points of theology. But before we come to speak about these challenges and points of critique, first the characteristics worked out by Tapia (Wansbrough 1996, 6ff.) {4}:
"Theology from the perspective of Asian women is as other Theologies of Liberation a contextual theology" - poverty and religiosity of the Asians is its context.
"It is an experimental theology", its starting point are the experiences of pain and sorrow of Asian women.
"Asian women engage in a theology that is centred on struggle, and aims at changes."

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It is characterized by "its critique of cultural and religious suppression".
It is engaged in a re-interpretation of theological teachings about women, resp. about the nature of woman, as they are found for example in the church teachings on God, Christ and Holy Spirit, and on the church (ecclesiology).
Recognized as a possible primary source for theological reflection are the experiences of the poor and of those who live on the margins of society. Here personal stories as well as socio-political events ("histories") can be consulted as sources for theology and ethical reflection.
It uses a hermeneutic of vision and hope.
Another characteristic of theology is also the special togetherness of women, as it can be seen for example at conferences: they are characterised by creativity and solidarity ("connectedness").
Asian theologians are looking for a "new identity for women, and for a deeper understanding of the question: What does it mean to be a human being?"
Sympathy and solidarity are the expression of the theologians' spirituality.
Characteristic for an Asian feministic theology is also the resort to religious-cultural sources, also of the non-Christian religions (see e.g. Yamashita 1999, 4ff.). The meeting and argument with other religious traditions distinguishes the Asian theologies from the western. It is the multi-religious context of Asia that makes such meetings and arguments not only desirable but also necessary, and lets the Christian theology benefit from the treasure of religious traditions.
A further characteristic is that in Asia feministic theology is not understood only as intellectual discipline, or as a mere rational reflection on Christian faith (Kwok 2000, 32). It goes beyond a mere theoretic or academic commitment, and works for a transformation not only of the respective society, but also of the respective church, in order to release it from the hierarchical patriarchal, woman-suppressing structures. Hence many of the women working within training institutions engage also in non-governmental organisations and in basic groups.
It is by no means a mere accident that just the South Korean theologian Kang Nam Soon, unlike many theologians in Asia, does not emphasize the common features in the experiences of women but the differences. So the theologian, who originates from one of the 'Tiger States', stresses that the experiences of women in Asia "have not a transcending common character, since experience is moulded by a certain place and in a certain time, which cannot be universal". "Women", so Kang, "are divided by races, classes, historical events, and individual differences" (Kang 1995, 21).

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Japan, Korea and Taiwan belong in Asia to the economically strongest powers. While in countries such as Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar poverty is a determining factor for the life of people, it is not the coining experience for many women in Japan and South Korea. That is one of the reasons why in more recent time theologians call on their listeners and readers to see also the different realities in the experiences of women:
"While in former times it may have been strategically important to stress the things in common, in the nineties the Asian feministic theologians called to give more attention to the differences in the experiences of women" (Kwok 2000, 40).
Thereby the economic inequality among women deserves special attention. So, according to Kwok, many "feminists in Eastern Asia can no longer claim to be economically suppressed, without seeing that they can profit by a global system that suppresses many other people". Therefore these women have to do theology from a double point of view: from the perspective of the suppressed and at the same time from the viewpoint of the oppressors (Kwok 2000, 41).
In spite of all the differences of Asian women and of their life contexts, that make it necessary to look above all also at the characteristics and the diversities in the experiences (Kang 1995, 21), there are common grounds which enable Asian theologians to transcend the borders of the own experience and to talk to each other. Apart from the "endless poverty", which does not concern all women but probably the large majority of Asian women, the Philippine theologian Mary John Mananzan mentions the "long history of colonialism" as well as the fact that "almost all people are victims of imperialism". Even if all Asian states attained today their independence, the things done "by the colonizers are continued (today) by local elites which - in tacit agreement with foreign powers - continue to exploit the majority of people". In this situation of exploitation women suffer three kinds of suppression:
"Apart from discrimination and subordination women suffer under different forms of violence - both under domestic and social. Often they are victims of quite diverse forms of slave trade: as prostitutes and 'brides ordered by mail' or as immigrant workers in overseas - as house-maids and entertainers" (Mamanzan 1995, 38).
Also for the Malaysian theologian Yong Ting Jin the suppression of women in Asia is manifold. Thus the Christians in Asia fight also for changes and liberation within their church or churches (Yong 1996, 4).

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Topics of Feministic Theology in Asia
In preparation for a conference for Asian Catholic theologians, which took place in Bangkok (Thailand) in 2002, a "call for papers" was dispatched {5}. The topic of the conference "Ecclesia of Women in Asia - 'Gathering the Voices of Silenced'" was held as broad as possible, in order to encourage many theologians to send in an abstract. By this call many thematically different contributions came in, which could be assigned to seven areas. These topical areas give a good idea of the different life situations with which theologians in Asia are concerned: Women and violence, women and Bible, women and church structures, women and spirituality, women and other religions, eco-feminism, and methods of doing theology.
The topic "women and violence", a branch of the topic "life contexts of women", summarizes the different forms of suppression and violence (domestic, social, cultural, religious, political, economic etc.).
The topic "women and church structures" includes the critical argument with the patriarchal and hierarchical church structures as well as the "grievances" within the church, but expresses also the vision of a genuine participation, of a different form of 'ecclesia'. In addition to that Kwok Pui-lan mentions still the ranges of women's discipleship, and of partnership of equals (Kwok 2001, 109 FF, 105 FF).
"Women and Bible" includes the exegetic work that reads and interprets the Bible from the viewpoint of Asian women, but also the critique of translations and of the handing down of texts in which the patriarchal context of their emergence is noticeable {6}.
The range "women and spirituality" involves the beginnings of an all-embracing spirituality, and of a spirituality which takes up the religious and spiritual traditions of other Asian religions. The Philippine theologian Carmelite M. Usog chooses a different approach. She understands women's spirituality within the framework of service for justice - as a "spirituality that arises from the fight against unjust structures" (Usog 2005, 278). Kwok Pui-lan gives in her introduction to feministic theology in Asia to a range of topics the headline "Sexuality and Spirituality", and to the subdivisions: "Women, Nature and Body", "Comprehensive View of Sexuality" and "Spirituality for Life" (Kwok 2000, 113-125).
Closely connected with an integral spirituality is also the eco-feminism which says yes to "the principle of caring for life in all its forms". The Indian theologian Evelyn Monteiro sees the natural entwinement of women and nature expressed in the fact that "women and nature feed and further lives from inside" (Monteiro 2005, XXII).

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Faith contents, rites and customs of non-Christian religions belong to the everyday life of many Christians in Asia. Their own roots lie often in these other religions. Therefore the argument with them, with their rich traditions, their spirituality, their practice of meditation etc. can help to understand and to enrich the own identity. Beyond that there is an urgent necessity to cooperate not only in solidarity but also together with members of different faiths on the common problems and challenges of the respective life contexts - and beyond that on other important tasks.
To the method of theological working belongs first the effort for a contextual and interdisciplinary approach, which makes possible an appropriate theological answer to concrete problems - for instance to economic and political suppression; secondly the consulting of sources, as for example personal life stories; and thirdly a comprehensive and intuitive approach (see Hee 2005, 291 f.). Also the question about the training of theologians is closely linked with the method and methodology of theological working.
Further topics with which Asian theologians occupy themselves, are the conceptions about God: the conception of God, the ideas of God in a religiously pluralistic context, sexism and an inclusive language, female images of God, God's compassion, and Christology (Kwok 2000, 65-78).

The Beginnings of Feministic Theologyand their Backgrounds
The beginnings of Asian feministic theology go back into the late seventies. Even if women worked already before theologically and did this partially also from a feministic perspective, only at that time a common and deliberate approach developed:
"In several Asian countries among Catholic and Protestant women the awareness emerges and develops that it is necessary theologically to reflect the situation of women and their incessant fights. They discover likewise the necessity to discover Biblical and theological concepts anew, to interpret and formulate them anew, and to develop spirituality from the viewpoint of women of the Third World in Asia "(Mananzan 1986, 51).
With these words the Philippine Mission Benedictine Mary John Mananzan, one of the well-known Asian theologians and member of the board of many years of the "Ecumenical Association of Third World Theologians" (EATWOT), described these first steps {7}.

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Since that time networks and organizations were developed, and conferences and meetings organized, in order to exchange research materials, to inspire original and creative theological thinking, and to publish own theological writings.
For some theologians, so Kwok Pui-lan, it was and is the completely personal situation of suffering that lets develop a feministic awareness. This awareness is then accordingly closely interwoven with the own history of the women (Kwok 2000, 26). Experiences of suppression and exclusion as well as the participation in political and social arguments and fights led to analyses of the respective social and political situation. These analyses made clear that women are always the poorest among the poor and have no voice. In order to work against these conditions, feministic organizations, such as "Filipina" or "Centre for Woman Research", developed for example on the Philippines (Kwok 2000, 26 f.).
The observation of sexism also in Marxist and democratic movements in which women were engaged, led these women to a changed awareness (Kwok 2000, 27). Thus it became clear to them that their liberation could not be subordinated simply to the general liberation of humankind. Subsequently the theologians began to analyze also their own theological training, and the suitability of theological systems in which women are not taken seriously. Thus women meet since the seventies on regional, national, and international level to analyze the "patriarchy in their society and church, to discuss strategies for the women's fight, and to open sources for their doing theology" (Kwok 2000, 28).
In December 1982 the first number of the magazine "In God's Image" {8} appeared, which was created by the Korean theologian Lee-Park Ai (1930-1999) {9}. The magazine of the Asian Woman Resource Centre for Culture and Theology (AWRC), which has found many readers already for a long time also beyond Asia, was and is the theological attempt of Asian women to create a forum, where their reality, their fights and reflections on faith as well as their striving for change get their expression.
In 1981 the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA){10} organized a union of theologically trained Asian women. The Women's Commission of EATWOT was created in 1983 (Kwok 2000, 28). By the network of EATWOT it became possible for Asian women to become acquainted with feministic theologians from other continents. The dialogue with theologians from the western or the so-called First World became possible by meetings, as e.g. by the in Costa Rica 1994 organized Women-Conference with the topic "Spirituality for Life: the Fight of Women Against Violence" (Kwok 2000, 29).

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There were also meetings with women of other religions already, as e.g. in the year 1989 the first Asian Women's Consultation on Interfaith Dialogue in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (Kwok 2000, 28).
Also on the side of Catholics the awareness grew that the church owes women a special attention and care, and that this could not simply subsumed under the work for and with laymen. Thus 1995 after the Sixth Plenary Assembly of the 'Federation of Asian Bishop's Conferences' (FABC) the Women's Desk {11) was created, which is assigned to the Office of Laity. The Plenary Assembly declared: "It is an urgent pastoral imperative for women to exercise their right to joint responsibility and mutuality with men in society and church." In November of the same year a first conference of the 'Bishop's Institute of Lay Apostolate' (BILA) of the FABC took place about the topic "The Role of Women in Church and Society with Regard to the New Millennium" {12}.

About Finding the Right Termfor Women's Theology in Asia
According to Kwok Pui-lan no special term for Asian Women's theology developed, as for instance in Africa or South America, where theologians - also in demarcation to the western coined term 'feministic theology' - named their liberating theology 'womanist'-theology and 'mujerista'-theology. A reason for the missing term is seen by Kwok in the fact that the Asian theologians have "neither a common language nor a common concept that could be used by all of them" (Kwok 2000, 9). There is a quite special difficulty with the term "feministic theology" in Asia.
First, also in Asia the term 'feministic' does not apply to all theologians. There are theologians who - seen from a feministic view point - do an extremely uncritical or conventional theology: they correspond without any reflection to the patriarchal and oppressing structures and theologies of their churches or even support them. But also theologians who in Asia do a theology liberating for women, did often not like to be called feministic theologians. The term 'feminism' is seen extremely controversially. Since it involves for many a radicalism and separatism - proclaimed by women of the middle class in Europe and the USA - with which Asian women however cannot identify themselves. If there is a term for the theological work of Asian women, then it is best the term 'Asian women's theology'.

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With this term the theologians want to avoid the "militant, separatist and man-hating" taste that the term 'feministic theology' has for them (Kwok 2000, 9).
The Japanese theologian Yamashita Akiko defines "theology from the perspective of Asian women" as follows:
The term "means a theology which is done by Asian women who want to change both the traditional church and its traditional man-dominated theology. Both are regarded as woman-suppressing".
Yamashita points further out that it is a theology, which is not only done by university graduates but also by groups of women in Asia fighting against sexism. Aim of this theology is the renewal of church and theology (Yamashita 1999, 2).

Demarcation to the West and Challenges
The reflection on one's own reality - meant also as differentiation from the west - lets also among theologians the search for an Asian identity time and again become important:
"Former feministic theologies had a tendency to universalize the experiences of western women, as if they represented the life of all women. The lacking ability to pay attention to differences, and the continual absorption of different realities into the own perspective has its roots in the social and cultural matrix of colonialism "(Kwok 2000, 30).
Also the Indian theologian Michael Amalados SJ points out the "specific Asian way of thinking in answering the question: By which criteria then becomes theology Asian theology?" (Amalados 2004, 178):
"The Asian way of thinking is rather influenced by the right half of the brain. It grants more importance to the symbol and to feeling, and less by the left half of the brain that emphasizes reason and abstraction. In Asia story telling may be more at home than argumentation. Actually the Asian way of thinking could be characterized as feminine-cultural."
The Korean theologian Hee Han Soon talks of an Asian mentality, and of a rhythm of "Asian thinking and feeling" to which the "western kind of reflection" is not suited. Han mentions the theologian Song Choan Seng. For him "intuition, the principle of non-violence as well as the Asian nonverbal way to communicate truth etc. (from spirit to spirit and from heart to heart") are characteristics of the Asian mentality (Hee 2005, 291 f.).

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Although the search for the own identity - just before the background of colonialism - is justified and perhaps also necessary, it has dangers and pitfalls if it is not done differentiated. They are similar to those to which the Chinese theologian Wong Wai-Ching Angela draws our attention. The fixation upon the west, which becomes apparent also in the demarcation from it, has according to Wong effects on the Asian feministic theology and its image of woman: "The clearest result in most of the Asian theologies - the most feministic Asian theologies included - is the representation of women as 'the opposite' to western colonialism" (Wong 2002, 4).
Wong means with it the representation "of women in the Asian theology and Asian feministic theology as 'the poor woman' - as the victim of both, of western imperialism and of all social and political problems in the Asian countries; and in reverse, a fighter and rebel who fights for her fate and her destination, despite extremely unfavourable circumstances under colonialism and its consequences. Finally the exemplary Asian woman is one who suffers, and nevertheless rises, in order to sue for her legitimacy as a subject of history. ... The identity as 'Asian' contrary to 'west' has in Asia been built so strongly into the methodology and into the contents of theological discourses, that they are at present fixed upon the bilateral axle of 'suppression' and 'liberation' of a multi-religious mass" (Wong 2004, 4f.)
The stylizing of the 'suppressed Asian woman' on the one hand and the 'fighter and rebel on the other hand are a simplification and a definition that does not justice to the reality of Asian women. To overcome it is a challenge for a theology that arises out of the perspective of Asian women.
Feministic theology in Asia was and is also today still to a large part a movement of women of the middle class. Theology was developed by educated church woman employees, university graduates, religious sisters and Community organisers. As women of the middle class, many Asian feministic theologians did not find the way yet to co-operate with less well trained women from socially low layers, in order to cause a social change. Kwok Pui-lan sees this as challenge for feministic theology in Asia, and she lists further facts that induce critical inquiries (Kwok 2000, 41f.):
Feministic theology did not have so far sufficient effects on the theological discourses and the patriarchal structures of the churches in Asia;
Many women sitting in the pews have nothing heard yet about feminism, and regard it as too radical and aggressive;
All well-known feministic theologians come from ethnical groups that are dominant in their countries.

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These are the challenges which a theology from the perspective of women in Asia has to face, if it wants to give answers to the experiences and to the situation of Asian women.

Ecclesia of Women in Asia
The 'Ecclesia of Women in Asia' (EWA) {13}, a "recent" forum for Asian Catholic theologians, faces these challenges. The name expresses the desire of women to enter as totally responsible participants into the mainstream of the church, and to be partners in the life of the church. The Ecclesia of Women in Asia sees itself as a forum of Catholic women working theologically. It is their avowed aim to give a theological voice to the women who have been silenced for centuries. It is their vision to develop a theology from the perspective of Asian women, and to attain the recognition of the Asian Catholic theologians as colleagues in the theological discussions within the church and at universities.
Even if there are already in the Catholic Church committees and organizations which try to lend a voice to women, many Catholic theologians feel, if a theology from the perspective of women is concerned, inferior to Protestant theologians. They see them as better interlaced and organized, and partly also as "more courageous". This inferiority feeling too was a reason that the 'Ecclesia of Women in Asia' decided - already in preparation of the already mentioned first conference in November 2002 in Bangkok - first to become a forum for Catholic women, but representatives of other Christian churches would always be invited as guests. The intention was to be able so to concern oneself also more intensively with "mere" Catholic problems, with which Christian of other churches have not to fight. That there would be - in such a mere Catholic committee - the danger of "being fixed upon topics of the Catholic church", and that such an fixation had to be prevented, is pointed out by the Belgian theologian Lieve Troch, who as a listening and reflecting companion took part in the first EWA-Conference (Troch 2005, 328). Which further challenges have to be faced by the recent movement of Asian Catholic theologians, can be looked up in Troch's contribution to the book "Das Schweigen brechen. Asiatische Theologinnen ringen um die befreiende Dimension des Glaubens" 'Breaking the silence. Asian Theologians Struggle for the Liberating Dimension of Faith' (Choe/Meuthrath 2005), in which a selection of contributions to the first EWA-Conference is translated.


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NOTES
{1} An outstanding introduction to Asian feministic theology is given by Kwok 2000.
{2} That this border is not arbitrarily drawn becomes clear if we look at the Regional Bishop's Conferences in Asia. There is on the one hand the 'Federation of Asian Bishop's Conferences' (FABC), which covers all countries east from Afghanistan including Japan. Associated members are the countries of the former USSR belonging to Asia, thus for example Kazakhstan and Kirgistan. On the other hand there are in the Near East 'Conférence of the Evêques Latins dans les Régions Arabes' (CELRA) and the 'Conseil of the Patriarches Catholiques d'Orient' (CPCO).
{3} Japan belongs to the ten richest countries in the world.
{4} See Note 4 of the German Version.
{5} Information to this conference, which took place in November 2002 in Bangkok, Thailand, and in which 'Ecclesia of Women in Asia' was established, are on the website of this forum for Asian women under: http://www.geocities.com/ecclesiaofwomen/. The contributions of this conference have been edited by E. Monteiro and A. Gutzler. A selection of the contributions has been translated into German; see H. Choe among and A. Meuthrath.
{6} To further subdivisions see Kwok 2005, 51-64.
{7} To EATWOT see eatwot.org ; see to this section also Mananzan 1995.
{8} See awrc4ct.org
{9} See Choi 1999.
{10} The Christian Conference of Asia is a regional ecumenical organization, which represents sixteen national Councils and more than hundred churches / denominations: Aotearoa New Zealand, Australia, Bangladesh, Burma, Kambodscha, East-Timor, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Laos, Nepal, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, and Thailand; see www.cca.org.hk/
{11} Cf. www.fabc.org/offices/olaity/women.html
{12} Cf. Forum World Church 120 (2001) 219.
{13} Cf. www.geocities.com/ecclesiaofwomen/

LITERATURE
M. Amaladoss, Response 1 to Evangeline Anderson-Rajkumar's Asian Feminist Christology, in: Asian Faces of Christ. OTC Theological Colloquium. Archdiocese pastoral Centre (Baan Phu Waan), Sampran, Thailand (May 11-15, 2004), edited by V. Tirimanna (Bangalore 2005) 176-182;
Das Schweigen brechen. Asiatische Theologinnen ringen um die befreiende Dimension des Glaubens, edited by H. Choe and A. Meuthrath (Freiburg 2005);
M. J. Choi, The Herstory of the Rev. Dun Si ylrr-ypstk, in: In God's Image 18 (1999) 3, 2-5;
H. S. Hee, Eine Methode der theologischen Reflexion im Dienst am Empowerment. Eine ökofeministische Perspektive unter Berücksichtigung der religiösen und kulturellen Werte Asiens, in: Das Schweigen brechen, 283-298;
N.-S. Kang, Creating "Dangerous Memory". Challenges for Asian and Korean Feminal Theology, in: The Ecumenical Review 47 (1995) 1, 21-31;
P. Kwok, Introducing Asian Feminist Theology (Cleveland-Ohio 2000);
M. J. Mananzan, Theologie aus dem Blickwinkel asiatischer Frauen. Das Frauen-Projekt der Ökomenischen Vereinigung von Dritte-Welt-Theologen und Theologinnen im asiatischen Kontext, in: Handbuch Feministische Theologie, edited by Ch. Schaumberger and M. Maaßen (Münster 1986) 51-60;
The same, Feminist Theology in Asia. A Ten Year's Overview, in: In God's Image 14 (1995) 38-48; Ecclesia of Women in Asia. Gathering the Voices of the Silenced, edited by E. Monteiro and A. Gutzler (Delhi 2005);
E. Monteiro, Keynote Address. Ecclesia of Women in Asia. A Forum for Catholic Women Doing Theology in Asia, in: Ecclesia of Women in Asia XV-XXIV;
L. Troch, Botschaften verknüpfen u. interpretieren, in: Das Schweigen brechen 320-335;
C. M. Usog, Die Spiritualität von Frauen im Dienst an der Gerechtigkeit, in: Das Schweigen brechen 268-282; A. Wansbrough, Behold I make all things new: Trends in Asian Women's Theology, in: In God's Image 15 (1996) 3,6-9;
Asien. Weibliche Gotteserfahrung im Leben verwurzelt. Schlußerklärung von BILA III, in: Forum Weltkirche 120 (2001) 219-221;
W.-Ch. A. Wong, "The Poor Women". A Critical Analysis of Asian Theology and Contemporary Chinese Fiction by Women (New York 2002);
A. Yamashita, A Review of Asian Women's Theology: From the Perspective of Women's Life Dialogue in Asia, in: In God's Image 18 (1999) 1, 2-11;
T. J. Yong, Visioning for AWRC in Context and Perspective, in: In God's Image 15 (1996) 3,4f.