Vatican invokes Gandhi in plea to end Orissa violence

By Phil Stewart

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The Vatican invoked the memory of Mahatma Gandhi in an appeal on Tuesday for an end to religious violence in Orissa after anti-Christian riots killed at least 35 people.

On Sunday, Pope Benedict had called for governments to protect Christian minorities in India and Iraq.

In a written address to Hindus, the Vatican office in charge of relations with other religions said Christian and Hindu leaders needed to foster a belief in non-violence among followers.

The Vatican pointed to Mohandas K. Gandhi, also known as the Mahatma or "Great Soul", as a global icon of non-violence.

"During the course of (Gandhi's) struggle for freedom, he realised that 'an eye for a eye, and soon the whole world is blind,'" Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, head of the Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue, said in the address.

"He is a model for non-violence and he led by example to the point of laying down his life because of his refusal to engage in violence."

Gandhi was shot dead in 1948.

Christians, who make up just over 2 percent of India's billion-plus population, have come under fresh attack amid long-running tensions over religious conversions.