Hindus and Catholics Meet in Nation's Capital

Just the other day, on July 7—hence this post—there was another very valuable Hindu-Catholic dialogue, hosted by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, in Washington D.C., near the Catholic University of America campus. This exploratory meeting, a follow-up to the May 2015 meeting, brought together about 30 Hindus and Catholics, leaders in their communities who are actively involved in the work of insuring that the two religions work together on issues of shared concern. We were particularly glad to have members of the Indian Catholic community in attendance too. Naturally, the long-settled and large Ameircan Catholic community has its own history and place in American society; it was exciting to hear from the Hindus present of their efforts to make sure that the Hindu religious traditions are better understood in American society. I have always thought that despite significant differences in theology and in some practices, Hindus and Catholics are meant for one another, possessed of consonant philosophical and theological, spiritual and devotional traditions, and I was glad to be invited to participate in the day-long meeting.