Tina meets the Pope

On a brief trip to Rome and Assisi as part of a 120-member interfaith youth organization in October 2006, Burzin Rustumji was asked to light the peace candle on the first day and Tina Mistry was among the five chosen to meet the Pope, notes former ZTFE (Zoroastrian Trust Funds of Europe) president Dorab Mistry in an e-mail to Parsiana. As part of the cultural theme, the Zoroastrian youngsters even rendered Chhaiyé hamé Zar­thosh­ti to the assembled youth.

The occasion was the 20th anniversary of the day of Prayer for World Peace held in Assisi on October 27, 1986 at the initiative of the late Pope John Paul II. About 120 young people from all religions from all parts of the world were invited. The highlight was to be an audience with Pope Benedict XVI in St Peter’s Square, states D. Mistry.

Tina Mistry greeting Pope Benedict XVI

"I felt that this man was chosen by God — he had the presence!” Tina later told Parsiana in a brief telecon on New Year’s day. Tina, who is co-chair along with Jamshed Todywala of the ZTFE Young Zoroastrians group, said the two of them regularly attend interfaith meetings thanks to invitations and encouragement from Jehangir Sarosh, the ZTFE stalwart in interfaith affairs.

At Assisi where they lived among nuns and monks, Tina said there were two Hindus, two Jains and two Brahmakumaris among the delegates. There were lectures by heads of various religions though there were no Zoroastrians at that level present there. Asked to deliver a message from her religion, Tina said "Zoroastrians are ready to join hands with other religions” in the pursuit of peace. "All separate religions can run side by side with respect,” she had added.

During the two-minute interaction with the Pontiff who spoke in fluent English, Tina could discern that he "knew about Zoroastrianism.” While the Pope smiled and blessed them Tina says "the meeting recharged and rejuvenated my interest in the religion.” Taking a leaf from the Catholics of Brazil, Tina feels we Zoroastrians need to look at ourselves. "The rest of the world is ready to embrace us…There are people who know more about us than we do ourselves. We need to go back to our roots and learn from there.”