Hindu American Foundation asks to end predatory proselytization

Boston, MA (March 13, 2013) - The Hindu American Foundation (HAF) welcomed the appointment of Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio to the papacy, following the sudden and unprecedented resignation of Pope Benedict XVI. Foundation leaders expressed hope that the Catholic Church, under Pope Francis I, as he will be called, will respect and privilege pluralism and interfaith relations, based on earlier efforts with Nostra Aetete, the Declaration on the Relation of the Church with Non-Christian Religions. 

"As our Catholic friends, neighbors and colleagues celebrate the naming of their pontiff, we, as Hindu Americans, congratulate the Catholic Church and welcome Pope Francis I," said Pawan Deshpande, a member of the HAF Executive Council. "As a pluralistic faith, Hindus respect the papacy for its importance to Catholics, and hope that the Church now begins a new era of mutually respecting Dharma religions and other pluralist traditions as divinely inspired paths as well." 

The Declaration of Nostra Aetete, signed in 1965, was the first papal document to state, in reference to Hindu and Buddhist beliefs: 

"The Catholic Church rejects nothing that is holy and true in these religions. She regards with sincere reverence those ways of conduct and of life, those precepts and teachings which, though differing in many aspects from the ones she holds and sets forth, nonetheless often reflect a ray of that Truth which enlightens all men." 

Many Hindus consider the tenure of Pope Benedict--marked by few visits from spiritual leaders including Radhika Ramana Dasa--as one of lost opportunities for dialogue with Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, and Jains, and marred by controversy fueled by Pope Benedict's own public remarks and actions. In a seeming departure from the Nostra Aetete spirit, in 2006, Benedict XVI sparked an uproar in the Muslim community when he stated that Prophet Muhammad's teachings are "evil and inhuman." In 2007, while visiting Brazil, he claimed that indigenous pre-colonial South American populations had all along been "silently longing" for Christianity. He also widely promoted the use of the Tridentine Mass in Good Friday prayers which explicitly calls for the conversion of Jews to Christianity. In 1997, prior to his papacy and as Cardinal Ratzinger, he denigrated Hinduism as a religion of "false hope" that guaranteed salvation based on a "morally cruel" concept of reincarnation resembling a "continuous circle of hell," and Buddhism as "autoerotic spirituality." 

"Under Pope Benedict's watch, the church did not privilege interfaith relations and pluralism with our community," said Pawan Deshpande, HAF Executive Council member. "We sincerely hope that the Pope Francis I will take significant, meaningful, and lasting measures to create a more harmonious world." 

Hindu Americans have long insisted that predatory proselytization campaigns where education, medical care, humanitarian aid, employment or other allurements are predicated on conversion to Christianity, vitiate the sensitivities of communities and spark conflicts. In the past few years, aggressive campaigns fueled conflict which led to violence, in some cases. However, signs of hope were seen from the broader Christian community when, for example, the Los Angeles based Episcopal Bishop, Jon Bruno, condemned and apologized for a history of predatory proselytization. 

"As Hindus, it's difficult to have meaningful interfaith dialogue when the Church is openly advocating for the demise of our faith," said Padma Kuppa, HAF Executive Council member. "The appointment of Pope Francis I offers a great opportunity for the Church to build meaningful and substantive relations with a billion Hindus globally, repudiate its history of predatory proselytization, and foster a new relationship based on mutual respect, tolerance, and pluralism."

Congratulations to Pope Francis: World Muslim Congress

Dallas, Texas, March 13, 2013 – The World Muslim Congress, a think tank, and the Foundation for Pluralism congratulate the new Pope, Pope Francis.

“I hope he heralds a new beginning for building a better world. In behalf of the people of faith or no faith, and my faith Islam, I welcome the Pope and make ourselves available to jump at his call for creating a peace in the world, where no human has to live in fear of the others, let the world be the new kingdom of heaven where we all feel safe and secure with each other. Amen”

There are a few deeply rooted conflicts among the Muslim-Christian, and Jewish-Christian communities that are the root cause of much of the conflict in the world, they have been simmering within the hearts and minds of the Christians, Muslims and Jews,  and flare up now and then in difficult expressions.

It needs a powerful personality for urging the Muslims and Christians to accept the otherness of other, and not focus on correcting the other. It needs a strong personality that can absolve Jews from the myths ascribed to them. It needs a pope who is a blessed peacemaker and extends his embrace to the Pagans, Hindus and all other forms for worshipping God or not worshipping. We are all children of God and honoring each other is honoring the creator.
He has got to initiate a dialogue on same sex marriage, women priesthood, birth control, and interfaith relations.
The pope is singularly the most important person on the world stage besides the President of the United States who can affect positive or negative outcomes. He can aggravate the conflicts or mitigate them and earn the blessings of Jesus – Blessed are the peacemakers.

We pray that Pope Francis brings a new era of dialogue and respect for each other, Amen.

Mike Ghouse
World Muslim Congress
Foundation for Pluralism

Muslims Offer Support to New Pope for 'Betterment of Humanity'

(WASHINGTON, D.C., 3/13/13) -- The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today congratulated Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Argentina on his election as Pope Francis of the Roman Catholic Church and offered the Muslim community's "support and cooperation."

In a statement following the announcement of the new pope, CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad said:

"We congratulate Pope Francis on his election by the College of Cardinals and offer the Muslim community's support and cooperation in every positive effort he will undertake for peace, justice and the betterment of humanity."

Yesterday, Awad published a commentary encouraging positive relations between the new pope and Muslims worldwide.

In 2007, CAIR's Awad was a signatory, along with 137 other Muslim leaders and scholars, to an open letter titled "A Common Word Between Us and You," which was sent to Pope Benedict XVI, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and more than 20 other Christian leaders.

The open letter was designed to promote understanding between Muslims and Christians worldwide. It stated in part: "[L]et our differences not cause hatred and strife between us. Let us vie with each other only in righteousness and good works. Let us respect each other, be fair, just and kind to (one) another and live in sincere peace, harmony and mutual goodwill."

CAIR is America's largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.

Hindus urge new Pope to promote interfaith dialogue

Congratulating Jorge Mario Bergoglio on his election as the 266th Pope Francis, Hindus hope that the 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.

Many websites on new Pope

The election of Pope Francis is causing 100s of new domain name registrations. Technology and religion came together this afternoon following the announcement of Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio as Pope Francis I.

Here are some registration statistics Go Daddy saw after the announcement. Keywords such as Pope, Francis, Bergoglio and Habemus Papam were used in identifying the new domain names registered with Go Daddy.

In the first hour 479 domains were registered with Go Daddy

Within the first 10 minutes of the announcement, more than 100 domain names were registered

Another fascinating find ... the domain name PopeFrancis.com was registered by a Go Daddy customer in April, 2010.

Congratulations, Pope Francis: Catholic League

March 13, 2013

Bill Donohue comments on the new pope:
 
The humbleness that Pope Francis exudes is inspiring, and his commitment to the least among us, starting with the unborn, is equally impressive. Moreover, his strong embrace of core moral principles, especially as they touch on sexual matters, adds to his appeal.
 
When Catholics celebrate St. Patrick’s Day this weekend, we’ll all be Irish. But today we’re all Latino.