1.5.2007

Vatican Send Message To World's Buddhists Urges Dialogue To Live Together In Peace

VATICAN CITY (UCAN) – The Vatican has encouraged Buddhists and Christians to educate their followers to dialogue and live together in harmony and peace.

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."

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."

"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.

Many Asian countries and territories with sizable Buddhist populations mark Vesak as a public holiday. However, the day varies from one place to another, due to the prominence of various branches of Buddhism and differences in local tradition.

This year, the commemoration is marked on May 2 in Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Malaysia, Myanmar and Nepal, and on May 24 in Hong Kong and South Korea. In Laos, Singapore and Thailand, it falls on May 31, and in Indonesia on June 1. China, Japan, Taiwan and Vietnam, which have had a long history of Buddhism, do not officially celebrate Vesak as a public holiday.

Over the centuries, Buddhists have formed three distinct schools reflecting different teachings of Buddha. Theravada, which claims to embrace "what was said by the ancients," is prevalent in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam. Mahayana, meaning "great vehicle," is mainly followed by Chinese, Japanese and Korean Buddhists. Vajrayana, principally in Tibet, mixes the local cult of spirits and the dead with Buddhist mysticism.

In Theravada tradition, Vesak commemorates Buddha's enlightenment and death in addition to his birth. These are marked separately in Mahayana tradition.