Obama celebrates Diwali in Catholic school

[Beau_Ouiville]

"US President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Obama celebrated Deepavali, the festival of lights, at a Catholic school in Mumbai during their five-day visit to India. A small group of 24 students of Holy Name School in Colaba were selected to give the president company on Nov 7.

“We were surprised and at the same time happy to know that our school has been chosen for the Deepavali celebrations with the American president,” Principal of the school Father Michael Pinto said. The US first couple was received by students dressed up in traditional dresses, who took them to the auditorium where they lighted a traditional lamp."

cathnewsindia.com/2010/11/08/obama-celebrates-diwali-in-catholic-school/

My, my. And folks on this forum were incensed about Kwanzaa being celebrated in a Catholic church. Diwali happens to be a Hindu festival.

 

[losh14]

I was concerned until I read:

“We have 60 per cent Hindu students, 35 per cent Muslims and only five per cent Christians. But it may be that we have a very good record in academics as well as cultural activities.”

So is this the sign of a progressive ecumenism, as in the U.S., where Catholic schools welcome students of all faiths, or is this a sign of laxness and permissiveness, as is often seen in the U.S.? I’m inclined to think the former - most news stories aren’t going to mention if teachers take their Christian students aside and say “You know, we live alongside the Hindu and Muslim students and let them have celebrations that are important to them, but we don’t believe in their celebrations or in their belief systems.”

Now, if the school doesn’t celebrate Easter or Pentecost, that would be another story.

 

[Beau_Ouiville]

As a storied poster on this forum remarked about 45 days ago as to Kwanzaa::

I don’t care if anyone celebrates a fabricated cultural tradition - it’s a free country. However, since it has nothing to do with Catholic/Christian heritage, I don’t see a reason for it to be celebrated at Church.

And then we have Diwali in India.

 

[Petergee]

My, my. And folks on this forum were incensed about Kwanzaa being celebrated in a Catholic church. Diwali happens to be a Hindu festival.

To put this into proper perspective: according to the article the students “dressed up in traditional dresses, … lighted a traditional lamp… showed few presentations on environment and presented cultural programs, including the Deepavali dance and the Koli dance, a Marathi folk dance.”
Nothing about worshipping Hindu gods and goddesses or any other type of religious activity. Diwali like many other festivals of various religions (including Catholicism) in southern and eastern Asia, has become, in part, a secular festival in which Christians, Moslems, Hindus and Buddhists take part equally.