Stupendous two days. I’ll never forget these two days lived in love and trust and engaged in Hindu-Christian dialogue.” This is how Jean-Louis Pierre Tauran, president of the Pope’s Council for Inter-Faith Dialogue, Vatican City, described the interaction between Hindu and Christian representatives in Mumbai on Friday and Saturday. Coming from someone who experienced the depth and breadth of the spiritual tradition in India for the first time, this effusive response seemed natural. Hindu participants too were unanimous that this was a fruitful dialogue.

There have been several useful dialogues in the past between Hindu religious leaders and representatives of the Catholic Church. By and large, the themes of these dialogues were “academic” in nature, as they sought to explore the theological common ground between the two faiths. But the Mumbai meet was different for three significant reasons. First, this was the first formal interaction between the two sides after the unfortunate flare-up of conflict in Orissa last year, which highlighted two inter-related facts: the condemnable violent attack on churches and innocent Christians on the one hand and, on the other, the rising Hindu disquiet over a sustained campaign of conversion to Christianity. Second, this was for the first time that the Catholic delegation was led by the Pope’s highest emissary heading the department of inter-faith dialogue. Third, this was also for the first time that Hindu religious leaders of high eminence participated in the dialogue, sending a clear message that the Hindu side is ready to engage in a constructive dialogue with Christians of all denominations.

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