ANNUAL MESSAGE TO HINDUS FOR THE FEAST OF DIWALI

VATICAN CITY, OCT 29, 2002 (VIS) - Made public today was the annual message sent by the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue to Hindus on the occasion of the feast of Diwali. Diwali, a moveable feast, is a celebration of renewal as Hindus believe that on this occasion the divine power has overcome the darkness of the world.

The 2002 Message was signed by Cardinal Francis Arinze when he was president of the pontifical council. On October 1, he was named prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of Sacraments.

The cardinal said that it was customary for him "to invite friends of different religions on the occasion of their respective feasts, to joint reflection on various aspects of our life, in society and in the world at large." He asked if religious festivals were not perhaps "expressions of the desire of human beings to conquer darkness by light, evil by good, untruth by truth and death by life?" He noted that Hindus and Christians attach great value to life in all its stages.

"Technology," wrote Cardinal Arinze, "has made great progress in our days. Life has perhaps become safer, easier and longer. ... But does technology help us to value human life? With the progress of technology life paradoxically seems to be more threatened than ever. ... Modern genetic science has become a tool in the hands of man. He can use it or abuse it. Tempted at times to become a manipulator of life, or even an agent of death, man needs to rediscover his fundamental place in creation, namely, that he is created by God and God is the sole Creator of all that exists."
The cardinal's closing remarks were dedicated to the inter-religious meeting held this past January in Assisi. He underscored how the participants, from different religious traditions, "made a common commitment in favor of promoting each single life and the whole of life. ... Only to the degree that ethical and religious considerations will prevail in the whole of society can we hope that the principle of respect for life will be enshrined in society's attitudes and laws."

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