The President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, His Eminence Jean-Louis Cardinal Tauran, has released the Pontifical Council's annual message for the Jain feast of Mahavir Jayanti, celebrated this year on 9 April. The message is entitled "Christians and Jains: Together to foster practice of non-violence in families". The Jain feast commemorates the anniversary of the birth of Tirthankara Vardhaman Mahavir, whom Jains revere as the 24th and last reformer or Tirthankara of Jainism.