On November 21, 2009, Archbishop of Westminster Vincent Nichols visited the Hindu temple of Neasden, a suburb of London, the largest outside of India, below first row. Nichols was greeted by the pagan hierophant Yogvivek Swami, who is leader of the temple, and received a "blessing" on his forehead, above, made with a red ointment.

The Archbishop was given a tour of the temple, where he offered flowers to the deities and lit a candle to them while participating in a religious ritual, below second row. The tour ended at the main altar, third row, where Vincent Nichols paid homage to Pramukh Swami, spiritual guru of an international Hindu organization. Then, he stopped to meditate in front of the altar of the deity Bhagwan Swaminarayan, fourth row.

After these religious compromises, he delivered a speech to the 2,000 Hindus present, fifth row, on religion's contribution to the common good and the importance of the understanding of one another's cultures and traditions. His presupposition was that Hindus worship the same god as Catholics, which is blatantly wrong and raised strong reactions even among commentators in the secular media, such as a journalist of the Daily Telegraph. Last row below, an overview of the Archbishop's audience.

The website of the Westminster Archdiocese first posted the news admitting that Nichols had "offered flowers to Hindu deities," but soon removed this phrase.

A photo gallery of the event can be seen at the website of the Hindu temple here.

Photos from Mandir

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