Portugal: Hindu ceremony at Fatima
The SIC journalist gave a description of the Hindus, gathered in their temple in the Portuguese capital, to pray and worship the different statues of Hindu gods. Then, having arrived at Fatima, the pilgrims headed for the Chapel of the Apparitions, where their priest presided over the recitation of prayers. Here is the telecasters commentary: This is a unique and unprecedented moment in the history of the shrine. The Hindu priest, or Sha Tri, recites at the altar the Shaniti Pa, the prayer for peace. The Hindus can be seen removing their shoes, before approaching the rails of the sanctuary.
During the coverage, the rector of the sanctuary, Fr. Luciano Guerra declared: These encounters give us occasion to remember that we live in a community. (sic)
After having worshiped their gods and prayed in the chapel, the Hindus were conducted to an exhibition room, where there is a scale model of the future inter-religious basilica, in the process of being built. There, each one of them was personally welcomed by the bishop of Leira-Fatima, who bowed before the Hindu priest in response to his greeting. The Hindu priest then robed the rector of the sanctuary and the bishop of Fatima in the shawl of Hindu priests. The telecasters commentary: Upon the shoulders of the highest representatives of the Church in Fatima, the Hindu priest places a shawl, bearing inscriptions from the Bagavad Gita, one of Hinduisms sacred books.
The report concluded with images showing a Hindu priest lighting a candle in the sanctuary, while his disciples danced outside the Chapel of the Apparitions, singing praises to their gods. The commentator ended with these words: In 1982, a guru, a Hindu high priest, came from Bombay to Fatima. He signed the golden book immediately after Pope John Paul II and on the same page as Mother Teresa of Calcutta.
In justification of his actions, the bishop of the diocese of Leira-Fatima, Mgr. Serafim Ferreira e Silva, declared to a local newspaper: We do not wish to be fundamentalists, but to be sincere and honest.
- See Fr. Daniel Marets letter in our News from Tradition section, to be published next week.
