Date of Award
5-2026
Document Type
Thesis
Publisher
Santa Clara : Santa Clara University, 2026
Degree Name
Licentiate in Sacred Theology (STL)
Director
Anh Q. Tran, SJ
Abstract
Contemporary Kachin Christian funerals manifest a tension between enduring clan structures and the missionary-era displacement of ancestral cosmology, creating a theological vacuum that surfaces most acutely at the moment of death. This thesis asks how Kachin funeral rituals express beliefs about death and the afterlife, and whether these can be brought into constructive dialogue with Catholic eschatology. This thesis argues that Kachin relational cosmology can be critically received within the inclusive doctrine of the Communion of Saints, guided by the eschatological vision of Vatican II, the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences, Elizabeth Johnson, and Anthony Kelly. The arguments unfold through historical contextualization, descriptive cosmology, doctrinal retrieval. and liturgical proposal. It retrieves the Communion of Satins as a framework capable of receiving Kachin ancestral consciousness, including the recognition of "new ancestors" among exemplary Christian witnesses. The thesis addresses the Kachin theological vacuum while recovering the communal and relational dimensions of Christian hope.
Recommended Citation
Lin, Than Naing, "Kachin Funeral Rituals and Catholic Belief in Life After Death: A Contextual Eschatological Study" (2026). Jesuit School of Theology Dissertations. 171.
https://scholarcommons.scu.edu/jst_dissertations/171
