GANDHI'S GRANDSON SPEAKS IN CAPE, URGES NONVIOLENCE

People need to strike a balance between materialism and morality so the world would be a less frightening, fearful and angry place, said the grandson of Mahatma Gandhi during a visit to Cape Girardeau Friday.

Arun Gandhi, the grandson of Mohandas K. "Mahatma" Gandhi, spoke to more than 100 women from southern Missouri during a conference of the Council of Catholic Women in the Springfield-Cape Girardeau Diocese.

He also talked about the work of the Gandhi Institute based at Christian Brothers University in Memphis, Tenn., and its efforts to promote and apply the principles of nonviolence.

"It wouldn't be fair to give up materialism altogether," he said. "But there needs to be a proper balance between the two. There is an inverse relationship when you are more materialistic you are less moral."

If people in society would understand that they need to treat each other with respect, understanding, acceptance and appreciation as Gandhi taught, then they would be less angry, he said

Children are expressing their anger through violence at schools simply because they don't see working relationships, Gandhi said. "Relationships are based on selfishness and self-centeredness." People question what they might gain from a relationship before they consider investing in it.

Gandhi said his grandfather taught that people need to consider their place in creation. "We are all interrelated and interlinked. What happens to one happens to the rest of us," he said.

"We aren't here by accident. We fulfill our purpose when we know what our role is in creation."

People shouldn't be judged by the color of skin or race or the religion they profess but by their being human, Gandhi said.

"Society is a machine with all different parts," he said. All those parts working together make the machine run efficiently. "When you start discarding and disconnecting those parts and throwing them away then you lose an important part of the societal machine."

Gandhi and his wife, Sunanda, operate the Gandhi Institute to teach people about nonviolence. They often speak at college campuses, civic meetings and religious events. Sunanda Gandhi could not attend the meeting Friday because of an illness.

An officer for the Council of Catholic Women heard Gandhi speak at a national convention and asked him to the local meeting. The group meets annually, alternating between Cape Girardeau, Springfield and Joplin.

Women from the 39 counties of the diocese and 86 different parishes are invited to attend the weekend meetings. "It helps them learn more about church and how they can be instruments" in the work, said Marilyn Vydra, communications director for the diocese.

The Rev. John Leibrecht, bishop of the Springfield-Cape Girardeau diocese, will speak to the women this morning at Drury Lodge.