- 30 October, 2026
NEW DELHI, October 30, 2026: Italian Ambassador to India Antonio Enrico Bartoli and Archbishop Anil Joseph Thomas Couto of Delhi called for greater human solidarity, ecological responsibility and respect for human dignity while addressing a national seminar on the relevance of the Franciscan approach to contemporary global challenges.
The two-day seminar, titled “Sowing Peace and Sustaining Creation: The Franciscan Path to a Better Humanity,” began on October 30 at Vidya Jyoti Institute of Religious Studies, Delhi, bringing together theologians, academics, journalists, social activists and students to discuss peace, environmental sustainability, social justice and interreligious engagement.
Delivering the inaugural address, Bartoli described St Francis of Assisi as an inspiration and a revolutionary whose vision of fraternity and care for creation remained relevant in a world marked by conflict and uncertainty.
He urged people to rediscover their identity as creatures and cultivate a deeper love for nature. He also emphasised fraternity, saying that all people were brothers and sisters and that society had increasingly lost its sense of the common good.
Referring to the numerous armed conflicts across the world, Bartoli said humanity was living in an era of uncertainty and needed to reconsider what it meant to be human.
“Fraternity lies at the core of our humanity,” he said, regretting that cooperation and solidarity did not receive adequate attention in education and social life.
Drawing on the Franciscan understanding of the interconnectedness of human suffering and environmental destruction, the ambassador said the cries of the poor and the cries of creation were inseparable.
He also referred to Pope Leo XIV's emphasis on ensuring that technology served humanity rather than humanity becoming subservient to technology.
Bartoli said India and Italy shared a commitment to human dignity and urged societies to measure their progress by how they treated the poor, marginalised and forgotten.
Archbishop Couto, addressing the gathering, said the relevance of St Francis of Assisi had endured eight centuries because of his commitment to following Christ and his message of peace.
He recalled that Pope Francis had chosen the name of the saint as an expression of his inspiration and commitment to the Franciscan vision.
The archbishop noted that the Prayer of St Francis for Peace had found acceptance across religious boundaries, reflecting the shared aspirations of humanity.
“The humanity is the same, and the call to conscience is the same,” he said, underlining the need for people of different faiths to work together for peace.
He urged participants to reflect on their responsibility to make decisions that would ensure the sustainability of creation for present and future generations.
Emphasising the seminar's theme, Archbishop Couto said peace needed to be cultivated through concrete action, comparing it to a seed that must be sown if it is to grow into a plant.
Political scientist and human rights activist Dr Manoranjan Mohanty, delivering the keynote address, invited participants to see themselves as satyagrahis committed to the pursuit of truth.
Explaining the principles of satyagraha, he highlighted three interconnected ideals: swaraj (self-realisation or self-rule), samata (equality) and ubuntu (human unity and interdependence).
He said these principles offered a framework for building a more just and humane society and for transforming the relationship between people and the planet.
Mohanty stressed that human existence was fundamentally relational, as every human activity involved others. Equality, he said, required recognising people's dependence on one another, while interdependence was rooted in mutuality.
He called on participants to continue pursuing truth, equality and human solidarity, describing these values as essential to creating conditions conducive to the well-being of humanity and the Earth.
Dr Rajkumar Joseph SJ, Principal of Vidya Jyoti Institute, welcomed the participants, while Dr Edwin Rodrigues SJ, coordinator of the seminar, was associated with the organisation of the academic proceedings.
The seminar seeks to examine how Franciscan values can contribute to addressing contemporary concerns, including ecological degradation, armed conflict, social inequality, religious divisions and the need for non-violent approaches to human development.
By Catholic Connect Reporter
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