02/07/2026 17:20 - 19:30

HALL: Parenzo - A15

Contact: Gruber J.

Chair: Bobrowicz R.

Contributing to the conference theme "Religion and In/Equality," this panel examines theology's entanglement with structures of domination and inequality. Across diverse contexts, Christian theological imaginaries have too often claimed innocence in the face of harm by conceiving themselves as sources of salvation, reconciliation, or moral guidance while remaining implicated in practices of exclusion, violence, and hierarchical power. The panel takes as its starting point the recognition that theology is never innocent: it participates in shaping the conditions under which inequality is justified, sustained, and sometimes resisted.
Focusing on soteriological and ecclesial frameworks, the panel explores how doctrines of salvation, pastoral care, and ecclesial life both reflect and reproduce asymmetrical relations of power, even as the (cl)aim to be transformative. The concept of vulnerance - the active capacity to harm - serves as a central analytical lens through which to interrogate these theological dynamics. By confronting the vulnerance of theology itself, the panel seeks to uncover how Christian discourses of redemption and care can perpetuate inequality and how they might be reimagined in ways attentive to accountability and justice.
Drawing on insights from feminist, queer, political, and postcolonial theologies, the panel situates its critique within wider efforts to expose the complicity of Christian thought in sustaining systemic inequality, while seeking resources within the tradition for a more accountable and liberative theological practice. Together, the contributions uncover the manifold ways theology itself participates in inequality conceptually, institutionally, and pastorally, while opening spaces for critical and constructive reorientation. Moving beyond innocence requires acknowledging theology's vulnerance and cultivating practices of thought and care grounded in equality, justice, and interconnectedness.