Sikh delegation meets Pope Leo XIV
Bhai Sahib, Prof Mohinder Singh, of Guru Nanak Nishkam Sewak Jatha (GNNSJ) in Birmingham, was among a Sikh delegation who attended an audience with Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican on Monday.
"I was overjoyed, and of course I congratulated him on his inauguration," said Prof Mohinder Singh.
"I felt very happy."
Those present at the event, representing a a range of non-Catholic Churches and other religions, had attended the Pope's inauguration Mass the previous day.
Among the guests were Prince Edward, Foreign Secretary David Lammy and the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.
Prof Mohinder Singh described it as "a deeply spiritual moment".
It was, he said, "a sacred invitation to renew our shared commitment to peace, dialogue, and reconciliation".
Following the Mass, Prof Singh presented the inter-faith Peace Charter for Forgiveness and Reconciliation to the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, and offered prayers for peace in his country.
He also asked the new Pope for "his continued support and blessing for the Peace Charter", a document which was first presented to Pope Francis in 2018.
It was the third audience with a Pope for Prof Singh, who was the first Sikh in history to receive the pontifical order of knighthood for his service to interfaith relations.
He said he believed the new Pope would continue the example set by his predecessor, Pope Francis, in being a symbol of hope and peace.
In his address to the delegates, Pope Leo praised the work made by his predecessor towards interreligious dialogue and spoke of a "common path", involving everyone "in a spirit of human fraternity".
Prof Mohinder Singh said this was "very, very important".
"As per our own scripture, our Sikh scripture, all humans are sparks of the divine, humanity being one global family," he said. "We need to have interfaith cooperation and collaboration – that is almost essential."
He added that he thought Pope Leo would continue, as Pope Francis had done, to represent sincerity and simplicity.
"But he will also work on peace-building," he said. "That, I feel, is important for him.
"His Holiness walks with humility, courage and moral clarity, following the luminous path of Pope Francis," added Prof Singh.
Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
Pope Leo XIV calls for unity at inaugural mass and meets Zelensky
Final respects paid to Pope in West Midlands
GNNSJ
The Holy See
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
4 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Up to a million young Catholics expected for grand Pope Leo vigil
Up to a million young Catholic believers are expected Saturday for a night-time vigil led by Pope Leo XIV, the culmination of a week-long pilgrimage, a key event in the Jubilee holy year. The "Jubilee of Youth" -- when the Vatican invites Catholics aged 18 to 35 to the seat of the global Church's power -- has seen thousands of young pilgrims from around the world flood Rome this week. It is taking place just under three months since 69-year-old Leo -- the first American pope -- took over the papacy. Large groups of pilgrims have packed the streets of Rome all week, waving the flags of their countries or cities and chanting religious songs. Excitement has mounted over the course of the week for the new pope's final appearance to the youths on Saturday. "I feel mainly curiosity, as we don't know him very well yet," Parisian student Alice Berry, 21, told AFP. "What does he have to say to us? What is his message for young people?" - Uncertainty, anxiety - Various events have been planned for them by the Church throughout the city, including at Circus Maximus, where on Friday approximately 1,000 priests were on hand to take confession. Some 200 white gazebos lined the hippodrome where chariot races were once held in Ancient Rome, where youth lined up to speak to priests in 10 different languages. Spanish was one of the main languages heard on the streets of the Italian capital. The pilgrimage is taking place as economic uncertainty hits young people across the world and as climate change anxiety rises among the under-30s. Many young pilgrims said they wanted to hear the Vatican's position on climate change, wars and economic inequalities. Samarei Semos, 29, said she had travelled three days from her native Belize to get to Rome. "We are still trying to understand his leadership," she said of the new pope, adding she hoped he would have a strong say about "third world countries". The pilgrimage also comes amid global alarm over starvation in Israel-blockaded Gaza, and more than three years into Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. - Night vigil - The Vatican has praised Catholic youths who travelled to Rome from war-scarred countries like Ukraine or Syria, with Pope Leo repeatedly calling for the youths to "pray for peace". The voices of the amassed young people "will be heard to the end of the earth," Pope Leo told them earlier this week. The Vatican has said that more than 146 countries are represented. The mass that is the climax of the event will take place in Rome's Tor Vergata area in a vast open-air space with a newly built stage for the pope. It is the same area used 25 years ago for the last youth jubilee under Pope John Paul II. More than 4,300 volunteers will be working the event to welcome the young pilgrims, along with over 1,000 police, according to organisers. In an unprecedented move, Leo hosted a mass Tuesday for Catholic social media influencers, signalling the Vatican's openness to supporting the Internet-savvy youth. Rome authorities have tightened security in the city -- which has seen an unprecedented number of people, with both tourists and pilgrims inundated the city. oc/jj
Boston Globe
7 hours ago
- Boston Globe
Trump says he ordered subs repositioned in rare nuclear threat to Russia
Advertisement Because nuclear submarine movements are among the Pentagon's most closely held tactical maneuvers, it will most likely prove impossible to know if Trump is truly repositioning the submarines or just trying to make a point. But in Trump's sudden and escalating confrontation with Russia over Ukraine, it is the first time he has referenced the US nuclear arsenal, much less threatened to reposition it. Trump said Thursday that he intends to impose new sanctions on Russia over its unwillingness to wind down its war in Ukraine, the latest step in his gradual shift toward a more antagonistic stance toward the Kremlin. Still, such public flexing of nuclear muscles is rare even for Trump, who last made explicit nuclear threats to Kim Jong Un of North Korea early in his first term in 2018. At that time, he said his 'nuclear button' was 'much bigger and more powerful' than Kim's. That exchange ultimately led to a diplomatic opening to Kim, three meetings between the two leaders, and a complete failure of the effort to get the North Korean leader to give up his nuclear arsenal, which is now larger than ever. Advertisement But Russia is a different case, and Trump has often talked about the fearsome power of nuclear weapons, something he contends he learned about from an uncle who was on the faculty of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. So while Russian President Vladimir Putin has made threats about putting nuclear forces on alert during the opening days of the Ukraine war, and may have been preparing to use a tactical nuclear weapon in fall 2022 against a Ukrainian military base, the US has never responded. Medvedev is a good foil for Trump; he regularly issues threats against the United States but is essentially powerless. Trump has referred to Medvedev's martial-sounding statements several times in the past week. It was not clear what kind of nuclear submarines Trump was referencing. The US has nuclear-powered attack submarines that search for targets, but it also has far larger, nuclear-powered, and nuclear-armed submarines. Those don't need to be repositioned; they can reach targets thousands of miles away. Kingsley Wilson, the Pentagon press secretary, referred all questions about Trump's statement to the White House. This article originally appeared in
San Francisco Chronicle
8 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Veteran federal judge T.S. Ellis III, who presided over trial of Trump aide Paul Manafort, has died
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — Federal judge T.S. Ellis III, whose legal scholarship and commanding courtroom presence was evident in numerous high-profile trials, has died after a long illness. He was 85. Ellis oversaw the trials of former Donald Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort and former U.S. Rep. William 'Dollar Bill' Jefferson as well as the plea deal of 'American Taliban' John Walker Lindh across a judicial career that lasted more than 35 years. His acerbic wit sometimes drew muted complaints at the courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia, where Ellis was based, but his legal reasoning was unquestioned. Ellis died Wednesday at his home in Keswick, according to the Cremation Society of Virginia. Thomas Selby Ellis III was born in Colombia in 1940 and frequently found ways in court to utilize his Spanish-language skills. He often told Spanish-speaking defendants who relied on interpreters to speak up as they pleaded for leniency, saying he wanted to hear their words for himself. He joined the Navy after receiving an undergraduate degree from Princeton, and completed graduate studies at Oxford. He received his law degree from Harvard, graduating magna cum laude. He was appointed to the federal bench by President Ronald Reagan in 1987. In a courthouse known as the 'Rocket Docket' for its speedy disposition of cases, Ellis' courtroom reflected his iconoclastic nature. Rarely did his hearings start on time, though when he presided over jury trials his punctuality improved as he zealously guarded jurors' time commitments. He frequently chastised lawyers to cut short long-winded arguments, in what he called 'a concession to the shortness of life.' But he was easily coaxed or diverted into telling stories from the bench recalling episodes from his long legal career. He snapped at lawyers who annoyed him, but would often adopt a more conciliatory tone later in the same hearing, and apologize for his short temper. His penchant for speaking freely drew raised eyebrows at what was arguably the highest-profile trial over which he presided: the prosecution of Manafort, on charges of tax and bank fraud related to his work advising pro-Russia Ukrainian politicians before managing Trump's campaign. Ellis ultimately delivered a 47-month sentence, and said as an aside that Manafort appeared to have lived 'an otherwise blameless life,' a phrase he often used at criminal sentencings. Critics who found much to blame in Manafort's long career working for clients including the tobacco industry and international despots were outraged by the comment. In 2009, Ellis sentenced Jefferson, a former Louisiana congressman, to 13 years in prison for taking bribes, including $90,000 found hidden in his freezer. The case threw multiple curveballs at Ellis, including a sexual relationship between a key witness and an investigating FBI agent. In 2017, Ellis reduced Jefferson's sentence to time served after a Supreme Court case changed the rules for what constitutes bribery of public officials. He made clear, though, that he believed Jefferson's actions were criminal, and called his conduct 'venal.' 'Public corruption is a cancer,' he said at the time of Jefferson's resentencing. 'It needs to be prosecuted and punished.' Ellis' sentencing hearings often followed a familiar script in which he invited defendants to explain themselves 'by way of extenuation, mitigation, or indeed anything at all' that they wanted to say on their behalf. He invariably told defendants before passing judgment that 'you write the pages to your own life story.'
