Reno (California), Apr.23 (ANI): The Catholic Diocese of Reno has awarded a special certificate to internationally acclaimed Hindu leader Rajan Zed for "vibrant interfaith communication".

Awarding the certificate to Zed on Tuesday in the Reno Diocese, Monique M. Jacobs, Director of Office of Faith Foundation and Parish Pastoral Services, said that she had not known any non-Catholic being awarded this kind of recognition certificate.

In a remarkable interfaith gesture, Zed studied Old Testament, Catholic Theology, Prayer and Spirituality, and Mother Mary under expert Catholic teachers during the last few months. He gave a talk about Hinduism sometime back at the Catholic Diocesan Conference for the second consecutive year. He also recited prayers from ancient Hindu scriptures at the prestigious Bishop Manogue Catholic High School for the second time in the recent past.

Roman Catholic Church, headed by Pope Benedictus XVI Joseph Ratzinger, is the largest Christian denomination with about 1.12 billion adherents, representing about 17.2 of global population.

Hinduism, oldest and third largest religion of the world, has about one billion followers. Moksha (liberation) is the ultimate goal of Hinduism. (ANI)