Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Seoul (Fides Service) – Buddhists in Korea have just received a special message from the Conference of Catholic Bishops Korea for the 8 May Vesakh festival to celebrate the anniversary of the birth of Buddha. The message follows a letter of congratulations to Buddhists world wide issued by the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue in Rome. The Korean Bishops’ message, signed by Bishop Choi Ki san of Inchon who is president of the Korean Bishops’ Commission for the Promotion of Christian Unity and Interreligious Dialogue, offers congratulations to “our Buddhist friends” encouraging them to work with Christians for peace in Korea and in the world.
In their message the Bishops recall that since the Second Vatican Council the Catholic Church has always encouraged Catholics to see the seeds of truth present in other world religions and the positive values found in societies and cultures. They say they hope that the “journey of brotherhood and love” undertaken by believers of different faiths will continue for the good of humanity which is “suffering from the threat of wars”. The message also makes explicit mention of “our brothers in North Korea who have yet to be set free from their difficult situation” and it ends by saying that the Korean nation expects great things of its Buddhist community.
The Bishops message echoed the letter from the PC for Interreligious Dialogue (see www.fides.org) which affirms that humanity needs universal harmony, inviting believers of all religions, and in this case Catholic and Buddhist in particular, to pray for peace. PA (Fides Service 7/5/2003 EM lines 25 Words: 300)
