People
Bhai Mohinder Singh Honoured For Nishkam Seva
NEWS REPORT
History was made in the Catholic Church during a special Mass and Investiture at Metropolitan Cathedral and Basilica of St Chad, Birmingham, of Dr Bhai Mohinder Singh as Knight of the Pontifical Order of Pope St Gregory the Great, on Sunday, 22 April, 2012.
The Most Reverend Bernard Longley, Archbishop of Birmingham, invested the internationally known and respected Chairman of Guru Nanak Nishkam Sewak Jatha, based in the Handsworth area of Birmingham, with one of the highest Papal Awards.
The Order of St Gregory is normally bestowed on Catholics but in rare cases it is also conferred on non-Catholics in recognition of meritorious service to the Catholic Church and the exceptional example they have set in their communities and country.
More than 120 Sikhs, from Birmingham, London, Leeds, and some who had flown from Kenya and India were present in St Chad’s Cathedral for this unique and ground-breaking event in inter-faith relations involving the Catholic Church and the Sikh faith.
During the Rite of Investiture, which took place immediately after the homily, Bhai Sahib was escorted by S. Sewa Singh.
Canon Gerry Breen, Dean of St Chad’s Cathedral, read out the Papal Brief of “Benedict XVI Supreme Pontiff”, given at St Peter’s in Rome, signed and sealed by the Cardinal Secretary of State, Cardinal Bertone.
Archbishop Bernard Longley invested the knight elect In the name of the "Holy Father" with the insignia of a Knight of the Pontifical Order of St Gregory the Great, pinning the Cross to the left breast of Bhai Sahib and presenting him with his framed Papal Brief. The Archbishop also presented Bhai Sahibi with the sword of the Pontifical Order of St Gregory the Great.
During the same ceremony, a second personage was also similarly honoured. Mr Bill Ozanne, who has worked in the area of inter-religious dialogue locally, nationally and internationally for many years as a member of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales Committee for Other Faiths, has recently been appointed by Archbishop Longley as Chairman of the Archdiocese of Birmingham Commission for Interreligious Dialogue.
In his homily Archbishop Bernard Longley said: “This is a truly joyful day for it witnesses a moment of recognition and gratitude on the part of the Catholic Church for the dedication of two men of faith for whom our city of Birmingham is their home and the base for their work. This is also a unique and historical moment in the life of this Cathedral and in the experience of the Catholic Church in England and Wales and perhaps further afield.
“It is very fitting that Bhai Dr Mohinder Singh and Mr Bill Ozanne are receiving Papal Knighthoods from His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI on the same occasion and in the same ceremony of investiture. Over a friendship of many years they have discovered not only within each other, but also within the faith traditions that they represent, an openness to dialogue and a desire to deepen understanding and co-operation for the common good.
“They have both personally committed considerable time and energy to the goals of interfaith understanding and of common witness to shared values. But they have also encouraged and enabled the Sikh and Christian traditions to make progress along the pathway from mutual respect towards the deeper insights that friendship brings. They have prompted us to work more closely together in service of others.”
The Archbishop continued: “I believe that it is the first time that a Papal Honour has been bestowed in this way on a spiritual leader from within the Sikh community. It represents the Holy Father’s recognition of Bhai Sahib’s deeply held desire for fruitful and lasting relations between Sikhs and Catholics and opportunities to witness together.
“We recall Bhai Sahib’s presence in Assisi for the international meetings of faith leaders at the invitation of Blessed Pope John Paul II and of Pope Benedict - and I am sure that he will long remember being present with S. Sewa Singh ji in St Peter’s Square at the funeral of Blessed John Paul II during April 2005.”
Archbishop Bernard Longley stressed: “Nothing could have given greater pleasure to Mr Bill Ozanne than to be receiving this Papal Knighthood alongside Bhai Sahib, for this moment becomes symbolic of Bill’s own vision for interfaith dialogue and witnesses to his long commitment to this important work of the Church.”
Archbishop Bernard Longley concluded his homily: “The faith communities in this city are often among the first to recognise emerging social needs within our local communities. We want to develop effective partnerships among ourselves and with other agencies wherever appropriate to help meet these needs. May today’s celebration encourage us to continue along the pathway of this commitment not only for the good of our own faith communities but for the common good.”
At the sign of peace Archbishop Longley warmly greeted the two new Papal Knights and members of the families, his two co-Presidents of the Birmingham Faith Leaders Group, the Right Reverend David Urquhart, Anglican Bishop of Birmingham, and Major Samuel Edgar, Divisional Commander, Salvation Army, West Midlands.
St Chad’s Cathedral looked at its magnificent best and the Cathedral Choir, under its Director of Music, Professor David Saint, added to the splendour of an historic and memorable occasion with a wonderful rendering of the Franz Schubert Mass in G major. The great Pugin masterpiece was filled with echoes of joyful sound.
After the final hymn, members of the Sikh community sang a shabad - a Sikh hymn of praise - accompanied by two musicians playing traditional musical instruments. It was a deeply moving experience and in complete contrast to the ritual and ceremony of the Mass and Investiture.
S. Sewa Singh then spoke on behalf of the Sikh community. At the lectern with the lighted 2012 Pascal Candle burning brightly beside him, he concluded: “Our two faiths respect each other. We pray that the relationship between us will grow and flourish.”
* * * * *Dr Bhai Mohinder Singh is chairman of the Nishkam Civic Association, based in Birmingham, and is a trustee of the World Conference of Religions for Peace.
Nishkam - which literally means "selfless service" - is a Sikh organisation based in England which was formed by Baba Puran Singh of Kericho in 1974. Their community projects span the whole of the globe with special projects taking place in Africa and India. This organisation also maintains various gurdwaras in the U.K., Kenya and India.
Bhai Mohinder Singh has been an informal minister of the Sikh faith for over three decades and has regularly been in the Punj Pyarey (for the purposes of Amrit Sanchar) and on many occasions he has taken the role of ‘jathedar’ of the Punj Pyarey. He has brought many Sikhs of all ages to the path of spiritual discipline by getting Amrit Sanchar ceremonies conducted regularly over the years.
He is chairman of the Guru Nanak Nishkam Sewak Jatha (GNNSJ), selected (in 1986) and appointed to this role by his predecessor, Bhai Norang Singh.
Bhai Sahib is a Civil and Structural Engineer by profession and has worked on projects in the U.K., Africa and India. Until 1989 he worked in Zambia for the National Housing Authority under the auspices of the British Government’s Overseas Development Administration providing expertise for the provision of low income housing, town-planning and infrastructure implementation.
Whilst in Zambia he assisted the fledgling Sikh communities in different parts of Africa in the construction of gurdwaras. Simultaneously, he made regular trips to the United Kingdom to participate in religious functions.
In 1989, he left Zambia in order to devote his life to full time service of the community under the personal supervision of Bhai Norang Singh. In recognition of his many unique qualities and inner spiritual strength, he was chosen to succeed to the chairmanship of this organization.
Under his stewardship, GNNSJ has expanded its charitable work in the U.K. and abroad. At the dawn of the new millennium, in the wake of natural disasters as well as human-made calamities, considerable energy has been devoted to initiating and contributing towards interfaith activities within a world where efforts to improve mutual understanding and promote global harmony and peace have become imperative, more so than ever before.
April 24, 2012
Conversation about this article
1: Rosalia (Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A.), April 24, 2012, 11:15 AM.
Many congratulations to Dr. Bhai Mohinder Singh and to Bill Ozanne on receiving the Papal Knight from the current Pope. I've read that Pope John Paul II admired the Sikh Faith and the Sikhs - and I'm glad to see this long overdue connection come about.
2: Paramjit Singh Grewal (Auckland, New Zealand), April 24, 2012, 9:59 PM.
Congratulations to Dr Bhai Mohinder Singh ji and all the sevadars of Nishkam Sewa Jatha and the Catholic Church.
3: Raj (Canada), April 24, 2012, 10:31 PM.
Inspite of our small numbers, Sikhs have progressed economically, politically, socially, in distant lands. Yet, I can bet you no-one in S.G.P.C. has heard of Bhai Sahib. They are busy giving "Panth Rattan" to Badal.
4: Devinder Singh (India), April 25, 2012, 2:34 AM.
The term mutual respect of faith traditions referred to in the article is quite misleading. Western "Universalism" falsely believes in its own superiority over all other systems and believes in its applicability as a universal standard everywhere. It does not respect difference but merely tolerates it as something inferior. For instance, no other faiths are considered valid paths for liberation in the western Christian context. Hence a ceremony of investiture is the means by which to assimilate the other faith within itself in keeping with the omnivorous force of Christianity that wants all to be brought to its own path.
5: Sudarshan Singh Paul (Birmingham, England), April 25, 2012, 9:43 AM.
Great honour for Bhai Sahib, Nishkam and the Sikh community.
6: Ravinder Kaur (Ottawa, Canada), April 25, 2012, 3:21 PM.
On behalf of my family and i, our warmest congratulations to Bhai Sahib, Bibi ji and Mr. Ozanne.
7: Gurmukh Singh (London, United Kingdom), April 25, 2012, 5:22 PM.
A most well deserved honour for Bhai Sahib. He is a man of vision regarding Sikh-Briton and Sikh-European affairs. Good to see that he is described as "Chairman of GNNSJ" and not as "Spiritual Head". With Sardar Sewa Singh Mandla - of House of Lords' Mandla case (1983) fame - they make a most presentable Sikh-identity pair at international multi-faith forums. Have met him occasionally to discuss Sikh-Brit issues. A most warm and likeable personality.
8: Harbans Singh Aulakh (New Zealand & Australia), April 25, 2012, 7:02 PM.
Congratulations and gratitude to Bhai Mohinder Singh ji on this well deserved honour. Thank you, Bhai Sahib, for bringing joy, honour and pride to us all. May Waheguru be always with you in furthering the Nishkam Seva.
9: Bhai Harbans Lal (Texas, U.S.A.), April 26, 2012, 11:12 AM.
Bhai Mohinder Singh ji has a rare talent of building an unusual spiritual accord with people of faiths everywhere. We Sikhs are in gurdwaras and we are in businesses but we are not yet present at the global religious platforms meaningfully. Sikhi being a world religion and the newest of all religions deserves to be at every world stage and be engaged with all civil societies. Bhai Mohinder Singh is one of the very few Sikh leaders who understands this shortcoming and leads a group of Sikhs who fill the gaps. He understands what is needed and how to realize it. In my personal experience I find it very difficult to interest Sikh leadership and Sikh laity towards meaningful inter-religion engagement at local or global levels. There may be many reasons; this is not the place to discuss those. But Bhai Sahib has a solution. I find in him a Sikh religious leader who is always ready to catch any opportunity where his community may be appropriately represented at the global platforms. I sincerely feel that without him we will be missing many historical openings suitable to blow the bugle of our Guru's message. Whenever there is an opportunity, Bhai Sahib is there to forge mutual networks away from the political arena. Is this not the Sikh tradition right from the times of Guru Nanak that the Sikhs forged connections with all world religions even to the extent that they were being taken as their own by every religious tradition that they touched. I wish to join many of his admirers to congratulate him on his being honored as Knight of the Pontifical Order of St Gregory. I similarly wish to join the inter-religious community of the world to congratulate Rev. Bill Ozanne. I have known him for several years as a friend of the Sikhs and a religious scholar who always helped us forge inter-religious engagements with other faith communities. Mr Bill Ozanne is well known for his work in the area of inter-religious dialogue as a member of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales Committee for Other Faiths. He was recently appointed by Archbishop Longley as Chairman of the Archdiocese of Birmingham Commission for Inter-religious Dialogue. Along with Bhai Sahib, Bill Ozanne was also similarly honored as Knight of the Pontifical Order.
10: Kuldip Kaur Bharj (Leeds, United Kingdom), May 01, 2012, 6:47 PM.
I am absolutely thrilled and delighted that Bhai Mohinder Singh ji has been thus honoured. It is a most fitting tribute to his life-work. Likewise, I join the global inter-religious community in extending warm congratulations to Rev. Bill Ozanne who was also honoured at the same event.