VATICAN CITY (UCAN) – The Vatican has encouraged Buddhists and Christians to educate their followers to dialogue and live together in harmony and peace.
[I think Buddha already did that, actually. The part about teaching his followers how to live in harmony and peace, did he not?]
This appeal was contained in a message addressed to the world's 400 million Buddhists for Vesak, which marks the birth of Buddha five centuries before Jesus was born. The message, issued on April 25 by the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, was signed by Cardinal Paul Poupard and Archbishop Pier Luigi Celata -- respectively, president and secretary of the council.The thinking behind this year's message for Vesak was explained to UCA News in Rome by Monsignor Felix Machado, Indian-born undersecretary of the council, who has worked in this Vatican office for more than 14 years.
During the pontificate of Pope John Paul II, Monsignor Machado recalled, an interreligious meeting at the Vatican in 1999, on the eve of the Jubilee of the Year 2000, assembled 250 representatives of world religions. "Participants unanimously endorsed the idea that the different religions should form their own communities and motivate them for dialogue," he said.
According to the Vatican official, Pope John Paul again emphasized the importance of "education for dialogue" in his apostolic letter Novo Millenio Ineunte (the new millennium begins), published on Jan. 6, 2001.
"From our own experience at the pontifical council," Msgr. Machado said, "we know it is not enough simply to tell Catholics that the church has opted for dialogue. We have to educate our people for dialogue."
"We need to pedagogically show them that dialogue emerges out of their own faith," he continued, "and to explain what dialogue means and does not mean. We have to help them understand how to avoid being manipulated by outside forces and not to lose the religious core at the heart of dialogue."
[Buddhist Jihad, in its simple snarky way, has been trying to inspire some some Christians to follow the teachings of Jesus more enthusiastically and accurately, in the interest of increased world and personal harmony and peace. Does that count?]
He observed that hate campaigns are often stirred against Christians and the followers of other religions, and falsehoods are spread about them in some countries. "In today's world, if we do not give people the right information," he said, "they risk believing in the false information and prejudices that are often fed to them by some media or by those who run hate campaigns."
[Shades of synchronicity! This very blog was born from our discovery that crackpot misinformation was being spread about Buddhism by various persons and organizations, some Christians, some Muslims, pretty much all the Communist Chinese. Etc. We are on a wavelength of sameness and equanimity.]
"Forming communities and motivating them for interreligious dialogue is the need of the hour," he stated, and the council's latest message to Buddhists, followers of the world's fourth-largest religion, reflects this concern.
"Buddhists always appreciate this annual message," the 12th issued by the council, Msgr. Machado said. "They take it seriously and read it, and many send messages thanking us for it." The local Catholic Church in some countries also has "encouraged us to continue sending these messages," he added.
I do appreciate this annual message. I took it seriously and read it.
I may send a message thanking them for it. And perhaps asking them to take out that part in that Catholic Encyclopedia previously blogged about on this blog, about Buddha having had a harem, Buddhism really being Hinduism, and oriental mystics being incapable of logic, and so on. What say you, gentle readers?
And I think someone at the Vatican should actually read Thinley Norbu Rinpoche's book, the one that responds to John-Paul II and the Pope's charge that Buddhism has a "negative soteriology" kinda thing. Which it does not. And then respond to that. In the interest of dialogue.
Link here
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