Wednesday, 5 November 2025
To mark the Sikh festival of Guru Nanak Prakash Diwas, the day that Sikhs celebrate the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev Ji, the founder of Sikhism, the Vatican’s Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue has released a message encouraging fraternal collaboration in the spirit of Nostra Aetate.
Nostra Aetate is the document of the Second Vatican Council that encourages Catholics to engage in dialogue and collaboration with people of other religious traditions. This year, the declaration celebrates its 60th anniversary.
Welcoming the Vatican message, Bishop Patrick McKinney, Lead Bishop for Interreligious Dialogue and a member of the Dicastery, said:
“I very much welcome this Vatican message for the Sikh Festival of Guru Nanak Prakesh Diwas. It emphasises the importance of Catholics and Sikhs working together for social justice, moral welfare, peace and freedom.
“On 26 October at St Chad’s Cathedral, Birmingham, Catholics here in England and Wales celebrated with Sikhs, and people of other religions, the 60th Anniversary of Nostra Aetate, the declaration of the Second Vatican Council. This was a call to reject prejudice and embrace the universal dignity of every human being. It very much promoted respect for all religions and it has inspired the Catholic Church to seek to foster better understanding and good relationships between the religions in the search for greater fraternity, truth, justice and lasting peace.
“This is an opportune time both to celebrate the past 60 years of warm and fruitful relationships between Catholics and Sikhs in our countries, and also to acknowledge and give thanks for the Sikh dedication to service and outreach to those in need. This is shown not only through the free community kitchen – langar – of their Gurdwaras, but also in their active voluntary involvement in community events and activities across our society.
“As Catholics and Sikhs, may we continue to find ways, in a still deeper spirit of fraternity, to work together for social cohesion, justice and peaceful relationships among the peoples of our society. May this Vatican message prompt us to renew afresh our commitment to interreligious dialogue.”
In his message, the Prefect of the Dicastery, Cardinal George Jacob Koovakad, writes about how believers have both a “vocation and a moral duty” to live by values that develop “relationships of social friendship and human fraternity with all, through both words and actions.”
Acknowledging the challenges of walking such a path in a world marked by “fear, war, suspicion and indifference,” Cardinal Koovakad writes:
“Collective will and conscious efforts are needed from all people, in order to form an ‘ark of fraternity’ to promote unity, solidarity, and harmony among peoples.” Religious leaders, he writes, bear a profound responsibility to inspire their followers to live this spirit of fraternity.
He concludes:
“As believers grounded in our respective religious traditions, and as persons united by our shared humanity, values and concern for the common good, may we, Sikhs and Christians, together with people of other religions and all people of goodwill, sow seeds and offer gestures of fraternity for the authentic flourishing of social justice, moral welfare, peace and freedom (cf. NA 3).
“In this way, and in the spirit of Nostra Aetate, we may nurture a ‘spirituality of fraternity’ (HF) and build a true culture of peace.”
Guru Nanak Prakash Diwas is celebrated this year by the Sikh community on Wednesday, 5 November.
You can download the Vatican message in Punjabi and English.
