Anglican Communion News Service - Digest News

The Archbishop of Canterbury today sent his annual message to Hindu communities for the festival of Diwali. In his message he expresses his hope for ’reconciliation where there has been division and hurt’, for ‘peace and the rejection of all resort to violence’ and the appreciation and enjoyment of each other’s festivals ‘as a common sign to the world of our commitment to mutual goodwill and faith in each other.

In his message the Archbishop refers to his forthcoming visit to the Shri Venkateswara (Balaji) temple near Walsall. Dr Williams has accepted the trustees’ invitation to visit the temple as a sign of the ‘celebration of friendship and the facing of challenges with hope’ which was the theme of the Lambeth Inter Faith lecture given in April by the prominent Hindu scholar Professor Anantanand Rambachan.

The full text of the message can be found below:

To friends and co workers for peace in the Hindu communities

As the progress of the year brings you once again to the festival of Diwali, I offer you my greetings and my warm wishes that this will be again a time of celebration and of renewal of goodwill and faith.

In both Christianity and Hinduism, we dedicate times of the year to the renewal of our lives and of our faith. We seek to reflect on what has gone before and to reconnect with the light which lies within us and which is at the heart of all that is. Christians know this as the Light of Light and can appreciate and share in the ways in which at Diwali you celebrate your awareness of the inner light. Together, and through the celebration of our festivals, we can increase our consciousness of the ways in which light can triumph over darkness and good over evil. We can recommit ourselves to be light in the world.

It was in this spirit that Professor Anatanand Rambachan spoke profoundly to Hindu and Christian leadership about ‘Celebrating friendship and facing challenges with hope’ in his Lambeth Inter Faith Lecture in May this year; and it was also in this spirit that Hindu leaders joined the bishops of the Lambeth Conference in witnessing to our common commitment to the Millennium Development Goals. How important it is in this Diwali and for Christians in the coming Advent and Christmas season, that we hold to this vision of justice and transformation for all, especially for the poor and excluded, in face of the present economic crisis in which the temptation is to fall back upon ourselves and our own interests at their expense.

It is in this spirit that I shall be visiting the Shri Venkateswara (Balaji) Temple next month. I warmly welcome the invitation by the Trustees of the Temple, and at this time of year my visit will carry particular significance and many hopes for the year ahead.

My hope for this year ahead is that in this spirit of looking to the light, we shall be able to find reconciliation where there has been division and hurt; to work for peace and the rejection of all resort to violence; and that together we may appreciate and enjoy each other’s festivals as a common sign to the world of our commitment to mutual goodwill and faith in each other.

Ends

Notes to editors:

The Archbishop’s visit to the Shri Venkateswara (Balaji) temple is part of a wider visit to Birmingham Diocese and will include the opening of a new Children’s Centre, preaching in Birmingham Cathedral as well as a meeting with the Birmingham Faith Leaders Group. Further details about this visit will be released in due course.

The Balaji temple complex is built in a traditional Indian Dravidian architectural style, and was opened as a place of worship in 1999, is open to the general public for prayer, meditation, spiritual, cultural and educational activities including full participation in inter faith work for promoting mutual understanding and respect between Faiths.

The Archbishop will be welcomed in the traditional Thirupathi manner with a garland and will be shown around the interior of the temple where he will have the opportunity of meeting with members of the temple community. In the course of his visit, the Archbishop will unveil a plaque commemorating his visit and friendship between Christian and Hindu communities in the United Kingdom. His Excellency Mr. Shiv Kumar Mukherjee, High Commissioner of India will be amongst the distinguished guests, who will also include representatives from major Faiths in the United Kingdom

The full text of the Lambeth Inter Faith lecture given in April by Professor Anantanand Rambachan can be found at the following link: http://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/1748