And later, when a programme in his honour commenced with a prayer and was punctuated by greetings from heads of various Christian Dioceses of Karnataka for over two hours, the Archbishop remained patiently attentive.
The audience were more than awed by his persona. Every time, his name was read out, it evoked a huge round of applause. Predictably, he received the most passionate ovation when he was called to address the gathering. Although he spoke briefly, the Archbishop of Canterbury sought to delve on a crucial aspect of our civilisation - human rights.
He emphasised that human rights should be seen in the context of human dignity. The Archbishop said the values of unity must be upheld for peaceful co-existence.
“Human dignity ought to be protected at any cost. It’s important that the critical issue of human rights is viewed in terms of its relation with the right to self-respect,” the Archbishop of Canterbury, who leads the third largest group of Christians in the world, said.
And when the programme was wound up, people jostled to get his autographs and pleaded to be photographed with him.
Governor Hansraj Bhardwaj drew a parallel between Jesus Christ and Mahatma Gandhi saying, both had sacrificed their lives to save the people.
Archbishop of Bangalore Bernard Moras felt that there was a need to refrain from condemning people on account of their religion. He called upon all Christian sects to stand united and work for the welfare of the society.
