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Vatican's message to world Buddhists

The president of the Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue has asked the world's Buddhists to join with Christians in working for world peace.

In keeping with a recent Vatican tradition, Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald issued a message to the world's Buddhists as they prepare to celebrate their feast of Vesak. This was the first such message released by Archbishop Fitzgerald, who recently replaced Cardinal Francis Arinze as president of the Pontifical Council.

The Archbishop remarked that both Christians and Buddhists "are convinced that the origin of all conflict is ultimately located in human hearts."

He continued: "For us, therefore, the most fundamental and efficient way to advance peace is to do our best to see that the deep-rooted selfishness of human hearts is overcome, so that people may be transformed into true artisans of peace."

Archbishop Fitzgerald called the attention of the Buddhist world to the Year of the Rosary proclaimed by Pope John Paul II. The Archbishop compared the rosary with the mala prayer of the Buddhist tradition. The two prayers, he said, "have in common a calming effect on those who pray them; they lead them to experience and to work for peace, and they produce fruits of love." (Buddhist News Network)

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