Interfaith activities

During the international conference of the Congress of Leaders of the World and Traditional Religions held in Rome from September 29 to October 1, 2013 Dr Homi Dhalla met Pope Francis I with whom he exchanged greetings on behalf of the Zoroastrian community worldwide. He was one of a few selected representatives of each faith to be invited to the Vatican, reveals an email received by Parsiana from the World Zarathushti Cultural Foundation, of which Dhalla is the founder.

Dr Homi Dhalla greets Pope Francis I in the Vatican

Dhalla had been asked to speak at the conference on "The Courage of Hope: Religions and Cultures in Dialogue. In all there were 31 panels, each of which held discussions on various aspects pertaining to the theme of the conference and Dhalla participated in the session focusing on "The Spirit of Assisi.” His talk was on "Global Events Reflecting the Spirit of Assisi,” and at the end of the session a lively discussion took place, the email notes.
On the final day there were prayer meetings of each of the different faiths, which were open to the public. After a brief introductory talk on Zoroastrianism, to the accompaniment of a monajat played to provide a Zoroastrian flavor, Dhalla performed the kusti ceremony followed by prayers on harmony and human rights with an English translation. The delegates then participated in a peace march, converging at the Piazza del Campidoglio in central Rome where they were seated on a large raised platform. Important speeches were made to an audience of about 5,000 people and Dhalla lit a candle on behalf of the Zoroastrian community at this closing celebration, the email mentions.
Earlier, on September 24 and 25, 2013, Dhalla had been invited to a Congress by the same organization in Astana (Kazakhstan), where about 30 leaders and scholars of different religions were present. The meet was chaired by Kairat Mami, chairman of the senate of the Parliament of that country. Dhalla spoke on the various activities which could be launched by this interfaith organization to make it more meaningful, the email reveals.