Bhai Sahib, Prof Mohinder Singh, of Guru Nanak Nishkam Sewak Jatha (GNNSJ) in Birmingham, was among a Sikh delegation who attended an audience with Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican on Monday.
“I was overjoyed, and of course I congratulated him on his inauguration,” said Prof Mohinder Singh. “I felt very happy.”
Among the guests were Prince Edward, Foreign Secretary David Lammy and the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.
Prof Mohinder Singh described it as “a deeply spiritual moment”. It was, he said, “a sacred invitation to renew our shared commitment to peace, dialogue, and reconciliation”.
Following the Mass, Prof Singh presented the inter-faith Peace Charter for Forgiveness and Reconciliation, external to the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, and offered prayers for peace in his country.
He also asked the new Pope for “his continued support and blessing for the Peace Charter”, a document which was first presented to Pope Francis in 2018. “As per our own scripture, our Sikh scripture, all humans are sparks of the divine, humanity being one global family,” he said. “We need to have interfaith cooperation and collaboration – that is almost essential.”
He added that he thought Pope Leo would continue, as Pope Francis had done, to represent sincerity and simplicity.
