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