Hindus, Jews disappointed at Pope Benedict’s ‘snub’
Two American religious figures– Rajan Zed, an acclaimed Hindu statesman from Nevada, and Rabbi Jonathan B. Freirich, a prominent Jewish leader in California – have expressed disappointment at an apparent snub in the direction of Malta’s Hindu and Jewish communities by Pope Benedict XVI.
In a statement issued yesterday, they said that it was ‘very sad’ that the Catholic church in Malta was not serious when it came to sharing minority viewpoints and discussing issues of religious equality with minority religions/denominations.
The same two Hindu and Jewish spokespersons had earlier urged Archbishop Paul Cremona to organize a meeting of leaders of various religions and denominations with His Holiness Pope Benedict during this visit.
Zed, who is president of Universal Society of Hinduism, and Rabbi Freirich argued that as a dominating majority in Malta, Catholics in general, and Pope in particular, had a moral responsibility to take care of minority brothers/sisters from different faith/denomination backgrounds.
Apart from a Catholic majority – which a recent Church census estimates at just over 50% – Malta is also home to various minority communities including Protestants, Orthodox, Born-Again and other Christian denominations; Muslims, Hindus, Baha’is, Jews, Wiccans/Neo-Pagans, as well as atheists and agnostics.
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