Hindus okay for participation in Pope's religious peace summit

Nevada (US), Jan 2 (ANI): Welcoming Pope's proposal of religious peace summit in Assisi in October, Hindus said that they would participate in it if invited.

According to reports, this summit of leaders of various religions, which will mark the 25th anniversary of a similar event held by Pope John Paul, will discuss ways to promote world peace.

Eminent Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, applauding the efforts of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI to bring world religious leaders on a single platform for the cause of peace, said that "it was a step in the right direction".

Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, pointed out that serious and honest interfaith dialogue was the need of the hour. It was wonderful that Pope, leader of the largest religious organization of the world, was taking the lead in organizing such a much-needed summit and bringing major world religions and denominations together to work on issues facing the humanity.

Rajan Zed urged leaders of various faith traditions to wholeheartedly participate in the summit and make an honest attempt to come up with a concrete plan about the common religious concerns like human improvement, peace, ecological responsibility, social and economic development, etc. He suggested Pope to make this gathering an annual feature.

Religion was the most powerful, complex and far-reaching force in our society, so we must take it seriously. And we all knew that religion comprised much more than our own particular tradition/experience, Zed stressed.

Rajan Zed further says that this dialogue may help us vanquish the stereotypes, prejudices, caricatures, etc., passed on to us from previous generations. As dialogue brings us reciprocal enrichment, we shall also be spiritually richer than before the contact.

Pope Benedict heads the Roman Catholic Church, which is the largest of the Christian denominations. Hinduism, oldest and third largest religion of the world, has about one billion adherents and moksh (liberation) is its ultimate goal.(ANI)