Washington DC: A scandal-ridden Jesuit university in the United States created history on August 28 when its first Hindu chaplain led worship service in his religious tradition on the campus.

Georgetown became the first academic institution in the United States to appoint a full-time Hindu chaplain, Brahmachari Vrajvihari Sharan.

The 227-year-old university has come under constant fire in recent years for allegedly betraying its Catholic charter, and this latest hiring move will surely add more grist to the mill of those who would like to see Georgetown lose its title as “Catholic.”

Sharan, began the morning service by asking worshipers, about 40 college students, to still their minds. “Close all the tabs that are open, just as you would do to a Firefox window,” he said, according to The Washington Post.

Wearing a traditional white garb, the 31-year-old Hindu priest chanted Sanskrit mantras and played the harmonium as he led the service on campus in Washington, D.C.

“All of us students, we’re religious and Hindu, but we wouldn’t have been able to do what Brahmachari-ji,” Neharika Khandavalli, a senior at the university, was quoted as saying.

He also urged his congregation to study up on Hinduism.

“Our Catholic friends will ask, ‘Why do you have so many gods? Why do they have so many arms?’” he said. “Why, why, why? It feels like you have to be an ambassador for your entire religion. We want to make sure you have some knowledge.”

Sharan was trained as a priest at ashrams in India, completed his PhD in Sanskrit at the University of Edinburgh and taught at universities in Wales and London.

Georgetown is now seeking a graduate assistant to support the Hindu chaplain. “The Hindu Life Graduate Assistant is expected to support the new Hindu Chaplain with development and implementation of Hindu Life programming through the Office of Campus Ministry.”

“Part of our mission and our ethos is our desire to form the whole person,” Fr. Greg Schenden, a Catholic chaplain at the university, was quoted as saying. The university also has a rabbi and an imam as chaplains.

Father Howard Gray, interim vice president for mission and ministry at Georgetown, in a statement said he was happy to announce the appointment of Brahmachari Vrajvihari Sharan as Georgetown’s first full-time director for Hindu life and the first Hindu priest chaplain in the United States.”

The Jesuit priest said Sharan was drawn to Georgetown by its commitment to interreligious student formation, and “by the vibrancy of the university’s Hindu community.”

The college’s website claims that since its founding in 1789, Georgetown has welcomed a diverse community of students, faculty and staff. “More than two centuries later — inspired by the Jesuit principles of equality and respect for all — we continue to build bridges of understanding within our multicultural campus community.”

The college also claims to provide a network of resources to support its students, faculty and staff. “Faculty teach a range of courses analyzing dimensions of diversity in the United States and around the world. Students lead a variety of groups celebrating cultural traditions and advocating for respect and inclusion. Georgetown is an equal opportunity employer and makes a concerted effort to hire and retain a diverse community of faculty and staff.”

The university kicked up a controversy last April when it hosted Planned Parenthood chief Cecile Richards, who had been invited to speak about reproductive rights to some 400 students at the Lohrfink Auditorium. Richards was greeted with a standing ovation.

Michael Khan, president of Georgetown Right to Life, told the Daily Caller that he was disappointed, but not terribly surprised, that his university had granted a platform to someone so opposed to Christian values.

“We’re probably the most liberal Catholic university in the nation,” Khan said. “Many of our students and faculty aren’t Catholic and are very hostile to Catholic doctrine.”

Bentley Hatchett, a volunteer with Tradition, Family and Property, called Richards’ appearance a “scandal,” noting that the first responsibility of a Catholic college should be “to be faithful to the church and consistent with the church’s message.”

According to Georgetown officials, whereas other universities have employed Hindu monks (who have less training than priests) or lay people to work as chaplains for Hindu students, Sharan is the first full-fledged Hindu priest to serve in the role of chaplain at any university in the United States.

William Peter Blatty, author of “The Exorcist” and an alumnus of Georgetown University, submitted a petition to the Vatican in 2013 requesting that Church officials strip his alma mater of the titles of “Catholic” and “Jesuit” because it had abandoned its Catholic identity.

In response to criticism over its decision to invite Richards last spring, Georgetown officials released a statement declaring, “Our Catholic and Jesuit identity on campus has never been stronger.”