29 Oct : Applauding announced visit of Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan D. Williams to Sri Venkateswara (Balaji) Temple in United Kingdom next month, Hindus have urged Pope Benedict also to visit a Hindu temple in the near future.
Acclaimed Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada today, said that Synod of Bishops which concluded at Vatican City on Sunday, recommended "strengthening inter-religious dialogue". Following the spirit of his own Synod, Pope should undertake this journey to the Hindu temple to promote mutual understanding and respect between the faiths.
Zed, who is president of Universal Society of Hinduism, says that in our shared pursuit for the truth, we can learn from one another and thus can arrive nearer to the truth. 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 be spiritually richer than before the contact.
His Holiness Pope Benedictus XVI Joseph A. Ratzinger 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 followers. Moksha is the ultimate goal of Hinduism.