A warm welcome was accorded to the visiting Vatican Ambassador to India, Rev. Pedro Lopez Quintana the Apostolic Nuncio in Kohima at the Cathedral Church on Tuesday.
He is on a maiden visit to Nagaland on the occasion of the conclusion of Eucharistic year and the silver jubilee celebrations of the Mount Tobor Retreat House in the city.
Addressing a large gathering Rev Quintana called for "a sense of unity and brotherhood among the people in a world full of hatred and violence", adding that that "peace was a gift from God".
"It is something we have to constantly build within our hearts and communicate and show it," he said.
Speaking on the occasion, Nagaland Governor Shyamal Datta said there was a "reflection of Nagaland" in the contributions made by Catholics in the field of education in the state. The governor also applauded the role and involvement of the Church in the fight against HIV/AIDS and drug addiction.
Commenting on the conflict in Nagaland, Datta said Nagas had realised that violence could not be an instrument for peace. Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio in his speech said that Catholicism, in its more than two millennia of existence, had contributed so much so that it could not be captured in a few words.
"Indeed no civilisation on the globe exists without its healing touch," he said. "It is also essential that what we preach from the pulpit, we must practise in our homes and workplace," the Chief Minister said.
{{/usCountry}}"Indeed no civilisation on the globe exists without its healing touch," he said. "It is also essential that what we preach from the pulpit, we must practise in our homes and workplace," the Chief Minister said.
{{/usCountry}}