Sivagiri sannyasin group gets rousing welcome in Rome; Pope's blessing sermon and all-religion conference to be held today

VATICAN CITY: The all-religion conference and the world parliament to be held today at the Vatican, the spiritual centre of human love, in memory of Sree Narayana Gurudeva, will be blessed with the rich presence of Pope Francis. The sannyasin group, which arrived in Rome the other day under the leadership of Sree Narayana Dharma Sangham Trust President Swami Satchidananda, was accorded a warm welcome by various Sree Narayana organisations and Christian priests.

A love feast was held in the evening with religious harmony as the main element. Representatives of various religions from more than 15 countries including Italy, Bahrain, Indonesia, Ireland, UAE, England and USA participated. Today, a group of swamis will reach the venue of the conference at the Vatican.

Pope Francis's blessing speech will happen today. Cardinal Lazarus You Heung-sik will inaugurate the conference at noon (9 am ist) under the chairmanship of Swami Satchidananda. The conference begins with the Italian translation and singing of the Devadasakam prayer composed by Gurudeva. Swami Satchidananda will deliver a lecture on 'Sree Narayana Philosophy and World Peace'.

Karnataka Speaker UT Khader Fareed, Cardinal George Jacob Koovvakkad, Chandy Oommen MLA, K Muraleedharan Muraliya, Raghunathan Nair and Swami Veereswarananda will speak. There will be lectures on topics such as Guru's monotheism, religious harmony, religious syncretism, ''Whatever be the religion, it is enough, if man becomes virtuous'', and discussions on world peace in the light of Gurudeva's religious philosophy.

Fr Mithin J Francis, chairman of the Georgian University Interface Dialogue, will be the moderator. KG Baburajan, Panakkad Sadiq Ali Thangal, Gyani Ranjith Singh, Father David Chiramel, Father Mithun J Francis, Swami Shubhangananda, Swami Ritabhramrananda and Swami Vishalananda will speak. Religious harmony will be presented in the light of the vision of the Bible and Christ. Tomorrow there will be a harmony meeting attended by representatives of different religions and activists of various organizations in Rome.