Group urges new Pope to promote interfaith dialogue
Congratulating
Jorge Mario Bergoglio on his election as the 266th Pope Francis, Hindus hope that he will be more open to
reforms and lead efforts at interfaith dialogue.
Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement
in Nevada (USA) today, hoped that the new Pope would intensify the Roman
Catholic Church’s efforts at interfaith dialogue and creating harmony among
world’s diverse religions; be more open to reforms; and bring transparency,
maturity, accountability and modernization to Church.
Zed, who is President of Universal Society
of Hinduism, also urged the new Pope to come up with a detailed worldwide White
Paper on the global child abuse scandal engulfing the Church.
Rajan Zed suggested that new Pope; leader
of about 1.2 billion adherents worldwide, “supreme priest", holder of
"Keys to the Kingdom of Heaven", supreme shepherd and teacher of the
faithful, “The Holy Father”, "Servant of the Servants of God"; should
dedicate himself for defending human rights, helping the helpless, charitable
projects, human improvement, ecological responsibility, etc.
The new Pope should also seriously take-up
the issue of apartheid faced by about 15-million Roma (Gypsies) of Europe,
whose traces in Europe went as far back as ninth century CE, Zed stated.
Moreover, he should reconsider favorably
the ordination of women priests as women could disseminate God’s message as
skillfully as men and deserved equal and full participation and access in
religion. Church could hold a referendum among its congregations worldwide to learn
about the feelings of Catholics on the subject. Holy See being the largest
religious organization in the world should show exemplary leadership in women
equality to the rest of the planet, Rajan Zed argued.
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