Pope to Mongolian Buddhists: Humanity must renounce all forms of violence

By Devin Watkins

Because the Holy See and Mongolia mark the 30th anniversary of formal diplomatic relations, a delegation of Buddhist leaders from the East Asian nation met with Pope Francis on Saturday.

The group was accompanied by Bishop Giorgio Marengo, the Apostolic Prefect of Ulaanbaatar.

Pope Francis provided the delegation a “heat and respectful welcome”, and praised their need to construct a peaceable society by way of mutual understanding with the Catholic Church.

On the identical time, the Pope lamented that some individuals nonetheless search to make use of faith to justify violence and hatred.

Jesus and Buddha: males of peace

Pope Francis mirrored on the teachings of Jesus and the Buddha, saying each males had been “peacemakers and promoters of nonviolence.”

Jesus, he mentioned, taught His disciples to like their enemies and lived nonviolence to the purpose of dying on the cross, “whereby He turned our peace and put an finish to hostility.”

Gautama Buddha, a religious instructor of historical India who lived through the latter half of the primary millennium BC, based his educating on the core precept of nonviolence and peace.

The Pope famous that the Buddha inspired others to transcend the classes of victory and defeat, and to discard each within the need for self-mastery, as an alternative of searching for to beat others.

Group picture

Path of non secular freedom and friendship

Because the Church marks 30 years of its formal presence in Mongolia, the Pope admitted that few Catholics stay in Mongolia—round 1,200 native Mongolian Catholics, with 6 church buildings, 33 clergymen, and 44 spiritual sisters—however mentioned they’re “absolutely dedicated to fostering a tradition of encounter.”

Pope Francis thus known as on Mongolian Buddhists and Catholics to “strengthen our friendship for the good thing about everybody.”

He expressed his hope that Mongolia’s lengthy custom of peaceable interreligious coexistence may result in the “efficient implementation of non secular freedom and the promotion of joint initiatives for the widespread good.”

“Your presence right here in the present day is itself an indication of hope,” he advised the Buddhist delegates. “With these sentiments, I encourage you to persevere in your fraternal dialogue and your good relations with the Catholic Church in your nation, for the sake of peace and concord.”