Most Rev. Dr Peter Paul Saldanha, Bishop of Mangalore launched a Bandhutva initiative aimed at spreading the message of peace, harmony and brotherhood in the society in the year 2018.
In this connection, the Bishop convened a meeting on September 24, Monday wherein leaders from a wide spectrum of the society right from political, social and religious fields as well as intellectuals and media personnel attended and put in their valuable suggestions.
“I wish our smart city be a Smart City with a heart. It could be a slogan-Mangaluru, a smart city with a heart. In my childhood, I heard one song in Kannada that always resounds in my heart ‘Devaramakkalu Naavella..’ The song appeals the humanity to help one another, especially the needy, based on the one common brotherhood. We are all the children of the same God. So any discrimination based on any factor is unjust and against our creator. If God is Love and Compassion and Truth, as Christianity, Islam and Hinduism proclaim respectively, then we also have to become Love, Compassion and Truth as his image.”
“When the blood is transfused from a Christian to a Hindu, does it become Hindu or does it remain Christian? When a kidney transplantedfrom a Muslim to Hindu, does it change religion or retains its status quo? If our blood gels well and if our organs can be transplanted, and there is no fear that the body will reject them because, they are of a person of another religion, how is it then we, when it comes to totality of the person, reject one another?”
“To recognize our brotherhood and sisterhood, we need to build Bandutva, fraternity. We have great possibilities of envisioning where we can come together, dialogue with one another whether it is between religious traditions, between cultures or languages. We share the common denominator, humanity. In mathematics, to add or subtract the fractions, we use least common denominator. In life, to add the various fractions, various groups, various traditions, can we not use humanity as the least common denominator?”
“In the Bible, we are called to love one another as Jesus has loved us, or love your neighbour as yourself. We are not very sure whether we really love God, but if we have love for our neighbour, then, it is a sure sign that we love God.
“I have called this meeting especially to listen, to learn from you, to begin a cordial dialogue with you in whom I see many brothers and sisters, my large extended family. What attitude is needed in this sort of dialogue? All religions insist on the so-called Golden Rule: ‘Do not do to another, what you would not want done to you’. I believe this Golden Rule is found in every culture and religion as a point of encounter which enables us to actualise the ‘Art of Loving’, an authentic method of dialogue.”
“Dialogue first of all means placing yourself on the same level, not having a priori notions, of being better than the others; opening yourself to hearing what the others have inside, putting everything aside in order to enter into their souls and then, naturally, asking them to listen to us. This process allows us to embrace our commonalities that are there – and then agreeing to live those together. That’s concrete dialogue.” Bishop said citing Chaira Lubich. Among the different types of dialogue the bishop insisted on the dialogue of action, that is, working together for common causes.
“Another 50 years, many of us would not be here. Before it is too late, we can make a difference and India can boast of having Mangaluru, a smart city with a heart.”
Bishop Peter Paul Saldanha
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