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| India: A global model of interreligious living |
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| Scritto da UCA News | |
 Cardinal Telesphore P. Toppo of Ranchi says centuries of various religions and cultures existing side-by-side makes India a "living example" of intercultural dialogue.The cardinal recently addressed an Aug. 2-4 conference on evangelization held in Pune, 1,420 kilometers southwest of New Delhi. About 160 people attended the gathering that the Commission for Education and Culture of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI) conducted on the theme Cultural challenges for Christian mission in 21st Century. "For centuries this ancient cradle of civilization and thriving seat of rich and diverse cultures has been a living example of intercultural dialogue and dialogue of actual living," asserted Cardinal Toppo, who served as CBCI president 2004-2008. The prelate said every state and every region in India has unique religious practices, languages, cultures, castes, dress, food habits and modes of worship, "and yet we are all held together as one country." Cardinal Toppo heads the vibrant tribal Church in Jharkhand state. He is based in Ranchi, the state capital, 1,790 kilometers northeast of Pune. The Church leader credits Christian missioners with helping the tribal community in eastern India to join mainstream society without losing their ethnic identity. "We can showcase this to the world as a model," Asia's first tribal cardinal continued. According to Cardinal Toppo, the world now looks to India, as a democracy, for leadership in religious harmony. As an example of such expectations, he recalled an invitation the Church in India received last year from Turkey to share insights on interreligious dialogue. "The Catholic Church in India, with its privileged historical legacy and heritage, today has a great responsibility and a greater role to play to share the miracle of interreligious harmony and rich diverse cultural unity with the world," said the cardinal, who led the Church team to Turkey. Various cultures and major religions have been "held together for centuries" in India through "God's miracle," he asserted. Western nations, he observed, began to speak about interreligious dialogue only to minimize religious conflicts that resulted from migration of faiths. India, on the other hand, "lived for centuries this dialogue of life in action in their daily life without being consciously aware of it as we do today." Cardinal Toppo later told UCA News "the real challenge" for the Church in India is not from outside, but "from within." He expressed confidence religious fanaticism cannot destroy the Church here. As he sees it, "the real challenge is to achieve strength of unity in diversity" of Indian Catholics' culture, rite and regions. The Catholic Church in India comprises the Latin, Syro-Malabar and Syro-Malankara rites, and inter-rite rivalries have marked their relations in the past. The cardinal said his priority when he headed the bishops' conference was to unite the rites. "We have come a long way, but we need also to go a long way to create a sense of belonging and unity," he added. The prelate also asserted the Church in India "is not a foreign entity" as Hindu fanatics have been labeling it. "We should assert our Indian-ness. I am a tribal, and my cassock does not make me a foreigner," he said. |
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