Christians and Buddhists share “ecological responsibility” and respect for life, Vatican says
For Buddhists, this is the most important day for it commemorates the key moments in the life of the Buddha. This year, celebrations will take place in Korea and Taiwan on 21 May, in Thailand, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Burma, Malaysia, Laos, Nepal and Vietnam on 28 May. In Japan, they were held on 8 March. The message was translated in simplified and traditional Chinese as well as Japanese and Korean.
Titled “Christians and Buddhists respect Human Life as the Basis of Respect for All Beings,” the message is co-signed by the president of the Pontifical council, Card Jean-Louis Tauran, and its secretary, Mgr Pier Luigi Celata. It hopes that “existing bonds of friendship and collaboration in service to humanity” can become stronger.
“Let us take this opportunity,” the message reads, “to reflect together on a theme of particular relevance today, namely, the environmental crisis that has already caused notable hardship and suffering throughout the world. The efforts of both of our communities to engage in interreligious dialogue have brought about a new awareness of the social and spiritual importance of our respective religious traditions in this area. We recognize that we hold in common a regard for values like respect for the nature of all things, contemplation, humility, simplicity, compassion, and generosity. These values contribute to a life of nonviolence, equilibrium, and contentment with sufficiency.”
“Pope Benedict XVI, has noted that ‘the various phenomena of environmental degradation and natural disasters… remind us of the urgent need to respect nature as we should, and to recover and value a correct relationship with the environment in everyday life’ (General Audience, 26 August 2009). The Catholic Church considers the protection of the environment as intimately linked to the theme of integral human development; and for her part, she is committed not only to promoting the protection of land, water and air as gifts destined for everyone, but also to encouraging others to join the efforts to protect mankind from self-destruction. Our responsibility to protect nature springs, in fact, from our respect for one another; it comes from the law inscribed in the hearts of all men and women. Consequently, when human ecology is respected within society, environmental ecology also benefits (cf Encyclical Caritas in Veritate, n. 51).”
Lastly, “Both Christians and Buddhists have a profound respect for human life. It is crucial therefore that we encourage efforts to create a sense of ecological responsibility, while at the same time reaffirming our shared convictions about the inviolability of human life at every stage and in every condition, the dignity of the person and the unique mission of the family, where one learns to love one’s neighbour and to respect nature.”
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