Hindus are asking Pope Benedict to issue a public apology for allegedly insulting them.

Acclaimed Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, said that it was very humiliating to one billion strong Hindus of the world when Pope Benedict referred their God as “just any god”.

His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI, in a letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on March 10 last (published on The Holy See website), said, “In our days, when in vast areas of the world the faith is in danger of dying out like a flame which no longer has fuel, the overriding priority is to make God present in this world and to show men and women the way to God. Not just any god, but the God who spoke on Sinai…”

Rajan Zed, who is president of Universal Society of Hinduism, said that Pope appeared to be trying to distinguish God of Sinai from the “other gods”. We fully agree that the world needs God but it was not necessary to denigrate Hindus to make his point across by apparently referring so unceremoniously our God as “just any god”, Zed added.

This shocking statement coming from the largest and highly respected religious leader of the world, Pope Benedict, who was a renowned theologian and had served as professor at various German universities, was really disturbing, Zed argued.

Pope Benedict heads the Roman Catholic Church, which is the largest of the Christian denominations. Hinduism, oldest and third largest religion of the world, has about one billion adherents and moksha (liberation) is its ultimate goal. -Sampurn Media