Vatican’s message for Diwali

28 October, 2013 - As the world’s Hindus are preparing for Deepavali or Diwali, the festival of light, the Vatican has sent out greetings, urging Christians and Hindus to foster human relationships through friendship and solidarity. The Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue issued on Monday its annual message for Diwali which this year is being celebrated on Nov. 2 or 3, depending on regions and countries. “In this highly competitive world where increasingly individualistic and materialistic tendencies adversely affect human relationships and often create divisions in families and society as a whole, we wish to share our thoughts on how Christians and Hindus can foster human relationships for the good of all humanity through friendship and solidarity,” the Council wrote in the message signed by Council president, Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran and secretary, Fr. Miguel Ángel Ayuso Guixot, MCCJ. The message noted that security and peace are largely determined by the “quality of our human interaction.” “The deeper our human relationships, the more we are able to advance towards cooperation, peace-building, genuine solidarity and harmony. In short, the ability to foster respectful relationships is the measure of authentic human progress and essential for promoting peace and integral development.” The Diwali message pointed out that “human relationships are at the heart of human existence and its progress and naturally give rise to a sense of solidarity with others,” regardless of ethnic, cultural, religious and ideological differences, as all of us belong to the one human family. “Sadly,” the Council noted, “with the increase of materialism in society and a growing disregard for deeper spiritual and religious values, … the human person is being reduced from ‘someone’ to ‘something’ that can be cast aside at will, which Pope Francis describes as ‘a culture of exclusion’, ‘a throwaway culture’ and ‘a globalization of indifference’. Thus, the Vatican said, the promotion of a ‘culture of relationship’ and ‘a culture of solidarity’ is imperative for all peoples, and calls for the fostering of relationships based on friendship and mutual respect for the benefit of the entire human family. This requires a common recognition and promotion of the intrinsic dignity of the human person. The Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue thus invited Hindus and Christians to work individually and collectively, with all religious traditions and people of good will, to foster and strengthen the human family through friendship and solidarity. (Source: Vatican)