The Asian Research Center for Religion and Social Communication (ARC) has announced a new book that highlights Asia’s spiritual and cultural responses to the environmental crisis, as the Catholic and Orthodox Churches mark the Day of Prayer for Creation on September 1.
The book, Religion, Culture, and Ecological Flourishing in Asian Contexts, gathers scholars, theologians, and practitioners from across Asia to examine how diverse religious traditions and cultural practices shape ecological awareness and responses to today’s crises.
It draws on insights from Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Confucianism, Shinto, and Indigenous spiritualities, placing ecological concerns within moral, cultural, and spiritual frameworks.
Editor Fr. Anthony Le Duc, SVD, said the chapters cover themes that range from traditional ecological knowledge and interreligious dialogue to gender and environmental stewardship, intercultural communication, and the role of ritual, narrative, and virtue in cultivating responsibility.
The contributors highlight global lessons while grounding their work in Asian contexts. Fr. Le Duc, who serves as ARC’s Executive Director at St. John’s University in Bangkok, said the book “offers wisdom to the global community seeking pathways toward sustainable and life-giving futures.”
He added that the volume contributes to ongoing scholarly and interreligious conversations on the role of religion and culture in addressing the planetary crisis.
The book includes contributions from a wide spectrum of disciplines—philosophy, theology, communication, anthropology, education, and interreligious dialogue. The mix underscores the multidimensional nature of ecological concerns in Asia.
Among the contributors are Prof. Kamaruzzaman Bustamam Ahmad of Indonesia, an authority on Islam, Sufism, and Southeast Asian religious life; Fr. Benigno Beltran, SVD of the Philippines, who spent more than three decades working among poor communities in Manila’s Smokey Mountain; and Philip Gibbs, SVD of Papua New Guinea, president of Divine Word University with expertise in anthropology and theology.
They are joined by Imtiyaz Yusuf of Malaysia, a scholar in Islam and interreligious dialogue; Phrakhrudpalad Chotipath Archarasubho Thepa of Thailand, a Buddhist monk-scholar; and Rico Casta Jacoba and Jeramie Nunag Molino of the Philippines, who research ecological ethics, ecofeminism, and youth studies.
The book also features Chandrabhanu Pattanayak of India, a media and education innovator; Fumihiko Matsumoto of Japan/Thailand, a philosopher and ethicist; and Fr. Le Duc himself, who has published recent work on Buddhist environmental humanism.
Published with the Season of Creation, which Christian communities observe worldwide, the book highlights Asia’s ecological perspectives while offering wisdom for the broader world.
Fr. Le Duc said it shows how diverse spiritual and cultural traditions engage ecological issues and point the way toward sustainable and life-giving futures.
