Pope fully competent to make comments, says Cardinal Dias

Cardinal Ivan Dias of Mumbai, the newly appointed head of Vatican’s Congregation for Evangelisation of Peoples, today said Pope Benedict XVI was ‘‘fully competent to’’ make the remarks about ‘‘disturbing signs of religious intolerance in India’’. The Cardinal’s statement is the first extensive reply in ‘‘Catholic perspective’’ to the Pope’s remarks, to which India had reacted strongly.

The Cardinal said the comments were ‘‘fully within the competence of the Pope as Christ’s Vicar on earth’’. The Pope’s comments, he said, are more relevant ‘‘when one considers the deep yearning of the Indian soul as expressed in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad: from untruth lead me to the truth, from darkness lead me to the light, and from death lead me to immortality’’.

‘‘While sincerely appreciating the ‘seeds of the truth’ which are found in all religious traditions… Christians believe that only Jesus Christ can fully satisfy the inner longing of the human heart to pass from untruth to truth, because He is the Truth,’’ said the statement.

The remarks of the Pope, says the Cardinal, is reflective of ‘‘certain politico-religious groups vis-a-vis the innate fundamental rights of the Indian people’’.