conviviality and co-responsibility to overcome wars and violence

The Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue sent a message of greeting to Hindus on the occasion of the festival, which this year is celebrated on October 24. It invites us to be attentive to the tensions fueled by competitive and populist policies, by the divisions between majority and minority and by the unscrupulous use of social networks. Christians and Hindus must be promoters of conviviality and the spirit of co-responsibility between people. Interreligious dialogue “is a powerful instrument” to build the common good.

Vatican City () – “The growing tensions, conflicts and violence in various parts of the world as a result of religious, cultural, ethnic, racial and linguistic identities and supremacies […] they are a cause for concern for all of us, because they seriously affect fraternal and peaceful social coexistence”, says the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue in the traditional message addressed to Hindus on the occasion of Diwali, noting that these tensions are often ” fueled by competitive, populist and expansionist policies”, by “majority and minority movements” and by “unscrupulous use of social networks”.

Known as Deepavali or “row of oil lamps”, symbolically it has its origin in ancient mythology and marks the beginning of a new year and represents the triumph of truth over lies, of light over darkness, of life over death, of good over evil. This year the party will be held on October 24. In the document, whose theme is “Christians and Hindus: let us promote conviviality and co-responsibility together”, the Vatican dicastery stresses that “it is vital and central” for Christians and Hindus “the need to promote conviviality and the spirit of co-responsibility between people”.

Conviviality – says the document signed by Cardinal Prefect Miguel Ángel Ayuso Guixot and Secretary Mons. Indunil Kodithuwakku Janakaratne Kankanamalage – is “the act and art of forging friendly and fraternal, healthy and harmonious relationships between human beings, and between them and nature”. “It is built – the message continues – on a daily basis, through personal encounter and dialogue, mutual listening and understanding, patience and perseverance, with the conviction that ‘life subsists where there is bond, communion and fraternity'” , as Pope Francis underlined in the encyclical Fratelli Tutti.

To achieve this goal, “a willingness to walk and work together with charity, fraternity and a sense of co-responsibility for the common good” and respecting the “transcendent dignity of every human person and their legitimate rights” is required. Remember that in the same way that parents and the elderly are responsible for the education of the young, “the leaders of all the world’s religions, educational institutions, the media, governmental and non-governmental organizations, share equally the responsibility to cultivate the values ​​of conviviality and co-responsibility with all the means at its disposal”. Interreligious dialogue, a providential sign of our times and a path for the growth of fraternity and peace, as the Pope says, is a “powerful tool to inspire and encourage people of different religious traditions to live these values ​​in fraternity, unity and solidarity for the common good”.

The message – in English, Italian, French and Hindi – concludes by underlining that, “as believers and leaders of our religious communities […] We share a common concern and responsibility for the well-being of the human family and the earth, our common home.” That is why it is necessary that Christians and Hindus “join our efforts with people of all religious traditions and with all persons of good will, to promote, individually and collectively, the spirit of conviviality and co-responsibility to transform this world into a safe home. for all, where we can live joyfully in peace.