Vatican official to Hindus: Feasts encourage action for children

Published: 2004-11-04

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Celebrating religious feasts and seeing the joy they bring to children should encourage adults to take concrete action on behalf of the other children in the world who have nothing to celebrate, a Vatican official said in a message to Hindus. In offering his best wishes to Hindus preparing to celebrate Diwali, a five-day feast beginning Nov. 12, Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, asked for concrete ideas for Hindu-Catholic projects to help suffering children. The two communities, he said, should "focus our attention on the evils in our society that afflict children: forced labor, forced conscription, the breakdown of the family, trafficking in organs and persons, sexual abuse, forced prostitution, AIDS, the sale and use of drugs, etc." "What have children done to merit such suffering?" he asked. Diwali, also known as the "festival of lights," is one of the oldest and most important feasts in the Hindu religion. It celebrates the victory of light over darkness and of good over evil.

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