Hindus laud Pope for telling seminarians to learn other religions

NEVADA - Hindus have commended Pope Benedict for stressing the Roman Catholic seminarians the “need for a basic introduction to the great religions”.

In a letter to seminarians dated October 18, published at “Vatican: the Holy See” website, His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI wrote: The importance nowadays of ecumenical theology, and of a knowledge of the different Christian communities, is obvious; as is the need for a basic introduction to the great religions…

Renowned Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, said that after learning about other faiths, seminarians would come out with more inclusive, deeper and broader understanding of the religion. They would thus realize that religion was very powerful and complex and comprised of quite more than one’s own tradition and belief.

Rajan Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, further said that by being introduced to other religions, these seminarians would discover that presence of different religions was sign of God’s generosity and was earnestly wished by him. They could also find the interconnections between varying traditions and their doctrines.

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)