South Asian Jesuit leaders pray at Hindu shrine

(November 2, 2009) Senior Jesuit leaders from South Asia who prayed at a shrine dedicated to a Hindu ascetic near Kolkata, eastern India, say the visit and prayers have "enriched" them. About 20 provincials and regional superiors of the Jesuit Conference of South Asia spent 15 minutes on Thursday at the shrine in Belur Math, during an event designed to foster interreligious relations. The Jesuit conference comprising provincials and regional superiors from Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka, were attending their twice-a-year meeting at Konchowki, south of Kolkata. The shrine, which sits on the banks of River Hoogly, some 6 kms north of Kolkata, is dedicated to Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, a 19th century Indian mystic, who claimed to have had visions of Jesus Christ. Swami Vivekananda, the mystic's most famous disciple, founded the shrine in 1886. Calcutta Jesuit provincial Father George Pattery, who organized the visit, said the monks at Belur Math’s Ramakrishna Mission, who manage the shrine, promote interfaith dialogue. Earlier in the day, the Jesuit superiors celebrated Mass at the tomb of Blessed Teresa in Kolkata and met Missionaries of Charity superior general, Sister Mary Prema.