Bellary Diocese

NEW DELHI, SEP. 30 (SAR NEWS): Union minister for Human Resources Development Kapil Sibal has urged the heads of the Catholic religious congregations in the country to help the government in furthering its plans of ‘Expansion, Inclusion and Excellence’ in the field of education. Addressing the inaugural session of the Conference of Religious India’s (CRI) five-day triennial national assembly at the Columba’s School here, September 27, Sibal highlighted some of the main features of the new Right to Education Act. Sibal, himself an alumnus of St. Columba’s, thanking the gathering for its yeoman services in the field of education, particularly for the poor and the marginalised, said that there was still a lot to be done for the education of the masses. Prof. Mushirul Hasan, the outgoing vice-chancellor of the Jamia Milia University, presented a paper on ‘Tolerance and Pluralism’. He said ‘pluralism and tolerance’ which form the nucleus around which all our societal arrangements are found, have undergone a vast change over the years. “One should learn the way of living from our past where our relations with people belonging to different religions were based on love, brotherhood, and mutual understanding,” he said. Citing the examples of religious shrines, he elucidated further how people of different religions congregate there without making any discrimination based on one’s religion. “Plurality has been the hallmark of life in India and when people move around doing their usual chores, they do not do them because of the religion they follow. Reconciliation sustains faith and leads to an expansive outlook” he said. He concluded by saying, “We should promote more and more inter-religious dialogues as a harmonious India can be achieved only if we understand and accept each other with all our differences through dialogue.” More than 550 major superiors of about 360 Catholic religious orders are attending the conference, which will conclude on the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, October 2. The CRI represents over 125,000 Catholic religious brothers, priests and nuns in India. Most of the Catholic schools, hospitals, social service centres and other institutions are managed and run by this group.