According to an official of the Catholic Church of India and Asia, the visit of Pope Francis to South Korea, August 14-18, will give "a great missionary impetus to dialogue", mainly because "Asia's reality is multi-cultural." Archbishop Felix Anthony Machado, Bishop of Vasai, president of the Commission for Ecumenical and Interreligious Dialogue of the Federation of Asian Bishops 'Conferences (FABC), as well as president of the Office for Ecumenism and Dialogue of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI), shared his thoughts with AsiaNews. Arch. Machado said that the Pope’s Korean visit could be been a prophetic opening for next year’s golden jubilee celebrations of ‘Nostra Aetate’, the Second Vatican Council document on the Church’s relations with other religions. The prelate underscored the multi-cultural nature of Asia's reality, with the continent home to three eminent world religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam. “Hence,” he said, “the visit of the Holy Father will keep the tradition of meeting people from other faiths.” Archbishop Machado, a former official at the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, noted that the Church in Asia continues to engage in dialogue with peoples, cultures and religions, and the visit of Pope Francis will give a great missionary impetus to dialogue. "Religions," he noted, "have an indispensable role in the promotion of peace and development, and the visit of our Holy Father could play a significant and defining role for leaders of religious faiths endeavoring to promote the human rights of all people in building a more peaceful and just world."
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