Is This the Century of Religion?

Twenty years ago I was invited to give an open lecture at St Gallen, the prestigious Swiss university, on the theme of China’s emergence in the global market economy. This was not as banal a subject as it has become twenty years later and should have been (I thought) of particular interest to St Gallen students who specialize in law and economics. When I got to the lecture theater where I was supposed to speak there was my host, a friend who happened to have dropped by, and …….. no one else. In striking contrast the lecture theater next door was absolutely jammed pack with people sitting in the aisles, in the staircase, by the windows, etc. My host had scheduled my lecture on exactly the same date, at exactly the same time, in exactly the same building as an open lecture by the Dalai Lama!! So I can well empathize and understand the feelings of Chinese President Xi Jinping whose recent visit to the US was overshadowed by the simultaneous visit of Pope Francis!!