Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, has released a message for the followers of Hinduism on Deepavali, the Festival of Lights, whose celebration begins on 11 November this year. Titled Christians and Hindus: promoting human ecology together, the note is also signed by Fr Miguel Angel Ayuso Guixot, M.C.C.J, secretary of the same dicastery. Celebrated by Hindus around the world, Deepavali (from the Sanskrit for row of lights or lamps) represents the victory of truth over untruth, light over darkness, life over death, and good over evil. The three-day festivity marks the beginning of the New Year, family reconciliation, especially between brothers and sisters, and worshipping the divinity.
In the message, the Council notes, “His Holiness Pope Francis, in his Encyclical Letter Laudato Si’, has recently addressed the environmental and human ecological crisis threatening our planet. [. . .] Human ecology points to the relationship and responsibility which humans have towards the earth and to the cultivation of ‘ecological virtues’. These virtues include a sustainable use of the earth's resources through the adoption of policies, at national and international levels, which respect the interconnectedness and interdependence of human beings and nature. These issues, as we know, have a direct bearing not only on the current health of our earth - the home of the human family- but also for generations to come.
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