Look beyond specific religions, says Indian prelate
(Januarey 11, 2011) An Indian archbishop has urged leaders of various religions to
look beyond their communities and promote the human family. Archbishop Thomas Menamparampil
of Guwahati, Assam, told a recent meeting in Pune, western India that “behind every
civilization there is a unifying vision of reality and in our case, it is a spiritual
vision, and it is the most important element in a culture.” About 100 representatives
of various religions and NGOs attended the Jan. 6-8 program that addressed the theme,
‘Indian pluralism and solidarity for a just humanity.” The Salesian Archbishop said
“God reveals himself in cultures and communities, when they draw closer to each other
as though in a pre-ordained fashion. All our destinies are interwoven and until the
last of us has lived, the significance of the first cannot be finally clear,” he told
Buddhists, Christians Hindus, Muslims, Jains, Sikhs and agnostics. Archbishop
Menamparampil, who initiated an inter-religious peace forum in the strife-torn northeastern
India, cited the examples of Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa of Kolkata, and Pope John
Paul II, saying they represented the entire humanity, despite their special commitment
to their own communities. He said “Mother Teresa touched the conscience of the
world with her powerful witness of love, without a single word of rebuke”. The meeting
was organised by the Ishvani Kendra, a center for missiology and communication managed
by the Divine Word congregation..