Editorial:Befriending the Other

Jnana-Deepa Vidyapeeth: Pontifical Institute of Philosophy
and Religion (JDV) has celebrated the Diamond Jubilee of its 
transfer from Kandy, Ceylon to Pune, India in 1955. At the
time of transfer JDV was known as the Papal Athaneaum, 
the academic wing of Papal Seminary. In 1994 the Vatican
declared Jnana-Deepa Vidyapeeth and Papal Seminary to be 
thenceforth two institutions but still related to each other in
friendly cooperation. On this auspicious occasion, Jnana-Deepa 
Vidyapeeth is commemorating this event through various
academic and cultural activities including this International 
Conference on the theme “Befriending the Other” on 24-28
November 2015. The papers in this special double issue of 
Jnanadeepa are selections from this International Conference.
Since the conference takes into account the religious 
and cultural pluralism of India, Asia and Africa, we want to
focus on the living together in harmony. So from diverse 
theological, philosophical sociological, psychological and
anthropological perspectives, we attempt at various means
and modes of befriending the others, while preserving the
identities (“other”) of the other.