Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
AICU
New Delhi (Fides News Agency) - “As Indian Christians, we wholeheartedly support the Holy Father’s call for a ceasefire, dialogue, and the restoration of peace in the Middle East. The Pope’s voice, rooted in the Gospel of peace and mercy, is a moral imperative for all humanity in these turbulent times,” Elias Vas, President of the All India Catholic Union (AICU), the largest national confederation of Catholic laypeople in Asia, told Fides.
“Peace is humanity’s highest good, the foundation for a prosperous future,” he emphasized. The AICU, an organization founded in 1919 with 120 diocesan groups across the country and 16 million members, expresses its solidarity and support for Pope Leo XIV’s call for an immediate end to the devastating war between the United States, Israel, Iran and Lebanon. The effects of the war, according to the AICU leader, “are global and, through the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, are impacting energy markets and world trade, as well as food security and economic stability – all factors that also affect India.” The AICU therefore calls on governments to “listen to the worldwide chorus of voices calling for peace, voices coming from religious leaders, civil society, and ordinary citizens.” In India, there is a broad peace movement involving representatives of various religions. The ongoing commitment of the Indian Church to “promoting interreligious harmony and strengthening common spiritual efforts for world peace,” as stated by the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI), was recently highlighted in Delhi at the “Shanthi Sabha – Multireligious Assembly for Peace” event. It brought together representatives of the Christian, Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, Jain, Baháʼí, and Zoroastrian communities, who prayed together for peace, reconciliation, and harmony in the face of numerous conflicts and wars worldwide. Archbishop Anil Joseph Couto, Secretary General of the CBCI, lit a traditional lamp and sang a bhajan (traditional hymn) with those present as a sign of their shared desire for peace.
The participants then recited the prayer of St. Francis of Assisi, "Lord, make me an instrument of peace," while holding lit candles. The assembly of religious leaders also intends to publish a "global peace resolution" to be presented to governments, institutions, and the international community as a sign of the desire for peace that comes "from the grassroots" and from civil society. (PA) (Fides News Agency, 17/4/2026)
