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Conversion by choice is a core value of human rights: Pope

Josy Joseph in New Delhi

Calling for the building of a "civilization of love founded on the universal values of peace, solidarity, justice and liberty," Pope John Paul II ended his official engagements in India at an inter-religious meeting in the capital on Sunday evening, while asserting that conversion by choice is a core value of human rights.

In a display of the inter-religious search for a more compassionate existence at the end of a chaotic millennium, spiritual leaders from all the major religions came together at this evening's function with the Pope to assert their commonalties. Representatives of the Bahai, Buddhist, Hindu, Jain, Jew, Muslim, Protestant and Sikh faiths extended their co-operation to the Pontiff.

In the most India-specific speech of this visit, the Pope recalled Indian emperors Ashoka, Akbar and Chhatrapati Shivaji, religious figures like Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and Swami Vivekananda and luminaries like Gandhi, Tagore and Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan.

Reading from a prepared text, the Pope described himself as a pilgrim of peace and as a "fellow-traveller on the road that leads to the complete fulfillment of the deepest human longings." He said on the "occasion of Diwali, the festival of lights, which symbolises the victory of life over death, good over evil, I express the hope that this meeting will speak to the world of the things which unite us all."

While declaring the Catholic belief in conversion and its human right values, the Pope said on the basis of the teachings of the great Indian civilization and Christian teachers, he is "convinced that together we can successfully take the path of understanding and dialogue."

His presence at the inter-religious meeting, he added, was "meant as a further sign that the Catholic Church wants to enter ever more deeply into dialogue with the religions of the world."

He said it is a sign of hope that "religions of the world are becoming more aware of their shared responsibility for the well being of the human family. This is a crucial part of the globalisation of solidarity which must come if the future of the world is to be secure."

Reflecting strongly on the Indian beliefs, the Pontiff said all religions "grapple with the mystery of suffering and death," and hold "life, truth, peace, freedom and justice to be supremely important values."

To the religious leaders, he said the "path before us is demanding, and there is always the temptation to choose instead the path of isolation and division, which leads to conflict. This, in turn, unleashes the forces which make religion an excuse for violence, as we see too often around the world."

He said dialogues between religions are never an "attempt to impose our own views upon others, since such dialogue would become a form of spiritual and cultural domination. This does not mean we abandon our own convictions."

The Pope asserted that it is important to recognise that there is "an unbreakable bond between peace and freedom" the later being the most noble prerogative of the human person, and "one of the principal demands of freedom is the free exercise of religion in society."

He said no "State, no group has the right to control either directly or indirectly a person's religious convictions, nor can it justifiably claim that right to impose or impede the public profession and practice of religion, or the respectful appeal of a particular religion to people's free conscience."

He repeated his statement on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that religious freedom constitutes the very heart of human rights. "Its inviolability is such that individuals must be recognised as having the right even to change their religion, if their conscience so demands."

Three Shiv Sena activists were arrested while staging a protest this evening outside Vigyan Bhavan where the Pope was attending the inter-religious meet. The activists Dhemendra Kumar, Vinod Tanwar and Jogendra Singh were arrested while showing black flags outside the venue.

Several Sena activists were arrested on the eve of the Pope's arrival in India and some at Rajghat on Saturday before the Pontiff paid homage to the Mahatma.

Additional reportage: UNI

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