Dr. George Pattery SJ – his journey of faithWelcome to our special program
on the Year of Faith, THE FAITHFUL WITNESS, a series on the lives of Inspiring People
and Witnesses of faith in the Catholic Church from around the world. These are
people who lived their ordinary lives in extraordinary ways. They are examples of
great fortitude and virtue. Their unique stories inspire us to be rooted in our faith.
God calls each one of us today to inspire our brothers and sisters and to be witnesses
of our faith. Today we shall listen to Father Dr. George Pattery, S.J. He is currently
the acting President of Janadeepa Vidayapeeth, the biggest ecclesiastical faculty
in South Asia. Prior to this assignment, he had been the Provincial superior of the
Jesuit Province of Calcutta. For many years, he had also been a professor at Visva
Bharati University in West Bengal, teaching philosophy and comparative religions.
He has done his doctorate from the Gregorian University in Rome on ‘the faith and
justice struggle in Mahatma Gandhi’. His experience with interreligious dialogue
has tremendously enhanced his faith over the years. xxx Our Faithful
Witness of today is Fr Dr. George Pattery. He shares with us his transforming faith
experiences. Fr. George, welcome to Vatican Radio. Listen: We are now
in the year of faith and you have been working with people of other religions, other
faith for many years. How does your faith help them and their faith help you? It
does not threaten you? Are you saying that there is some common ground for meeting
their spirituality or people of other faiths? What about Christians? Now you spoke
about people of other faiths, and your encounter with them, what about the faith of
Indian Christians? What is your suggestion for our own Catholics, who many a times,
take their faith for granted? What can they do to strengthen their faith?
That
was Jesuit Father George Pattery sharing with us his faith experiences. xxxx
You have been listening to THE FAITHFUL WITNESS our weekly series based on
the lives of Inspiring People and Witnesses of faith in the Catholic Church from around
the world. Our Faithful Witness of today has been Father Dr. George Pattery from Calcutta,
India. He will tell us more about his journey of faith with the young people next
week. If you have a faith experience to share with us, let us know. Visit our website
radiovaticana.va. This program is brought to you by Vatican Radio’s English Service
for South Asia.By P.J. Joseph SJ FRIDAY, 15 February 2013