Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Mumbai (Fides Service) - “Conflict between religious communities destroys the authentic essence of religion”: this was the conclusion reached by participants at a Seminar “Reconciliation of Communities a task for all religious beliefs”, organised recently by the Department for Interreligious Studies of St Francis Xavier College in Mumbai. The objective of the Seminar was to increase awareness of the theme of reconciliation as an alternative approach to heal conflicts among religious communities. Reference to different contexts in Asian countries such as India, Indonesia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, gave the Seminar a topical character and made it very interesting for all the participants, Christians and members of other religions.
In his opening address Jesuit Father Lancy Prabhu, head of the Department for Interreligious Studies of St Francis Xavier College said because of growing fragmentation, cultural, religious social and political in India and elsewhere in the world, reconciliation is the challenge of the day.
The theme was discussed starting from the viewpoints of other religions in India, Hinduism, Jainism Zoroastrian, Bahai. Kala Acharya, a scholar of religions illustrated the concept of reconciliation from the Hindu point of view, affirming that it is part of Hindu philosophy; Prof. Nilesh Dalal said that Jainism strives to have a peaceful relationship with all living beings. Parminder Kaur said the origins of the Sikh religion lie in the attempt to combine Hinduism and Islam whereas Dr. Marzia Rowhani-Dalal explained that the most important thing for Bahai is unity. Presenting the Zoroastrian vision of reconciliation Homi Dhalla said that every individual is called to be a builder of bridges. From the Christian point of view Jesuit Father Simon D’Souza explained that the call to forgiveness and reconciliation is the essence of Christ’s teaching.
The participants agreed that much of the disharmony in the world today is caused by social and economic unbalance.(PA) (Agenzia Fides 08/06/2004 Lines: 33 Words: 341)
