In Asia, the Virgin Mary transcends religious boundaries

Our Lady of Velankanni
Statues of Our Lady of Velankanni predominate in a display of religious items in Chennai, India. (Dreamstime/Yahodkumar05)


Most people know that the Virgin Mary is very popular among Catholic and Orthodox Christians. But what they usually don’t know is that the Mother of God is also venerated by devotees from other faiths such as Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism. She might not be necessarily part of the official teaching of these traditions but she still attracts devotees. As new research shows, Mary is the most universal religious figure of our contemporary world.

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