between two traditional religions respect each other Friendship
(WAki International Media Center5rd July) The Address of His Holiness Pope Francis to the Buddhist Delegation from Thailand on 17th June 2022 for 50 years of Vatican-Wat Phra Chetuphon Friendship between two traditional religions.
It is a great pleasure for me to welcome your Delegation from Thailand composed of thirty-nine prominent Buddhist monks of both the Theravada and Mahayana schools, together with sixty-five lay Buddhists and several representatives of the Thai Catholic Church.
The purpose of your visit has been to commemorate the golden jubilee of the historic meeting of the Most Venerable Somdej Phra Wannarat, the seventeenth Supreme Buddhist Patriarch of Thailand, with the Pope Saint Paul VI, on 5 June 1 9 7 2 . I express my heartfelt gratitude to Supreme Patriarch Somdej Phra Sri Ariyavongsagatanana IX and the Head of Supreme Sangha of Thailand for sending Somdej Phra Mahathirachan and the Thai delegation to the Vatican to renew our bonds of friendship and mutual collaboration.
On this occasion, I would like to renew the sentiments expressed by Pope Paul VI when he met the Thai delegation fifty years ago: "We have a profound regard for the spiritual, moral, and socio-cultural treasures that have been bestowed on you through your precious traditions. We recognize the values of which you are the custodians, and we share the desire that they should be preserved and fostered. We hope there will be increasing friendly dialogue and close collaboration between the traditions that you represent and the Catholic Church" (Insegnamenti, 1972, X, 604-605).
In the course of these fifty years, we have seen a gradual and steady growth of "friendly dialogue and close collaboration" between our two religious traditions. I recall the visit of the Thai delegation on 16 May 2018 with a translation of an ancient Buddhist manuscript in the Pali language kept in the Vatican Musuem. I also remember with joy my visit to your beloved country on 20-23 November 2019 and the wonderful welcome and hospitality I received. I likewise appreciate your friendship and fraternal dialogue with the members of the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue, as well as with the Catholic community in Thailand.
At a time when our human family and our Planet are facing manifold threats, such friendly dialogue and close collaboration are all the more necessary. Sadly, on all sides we hear the cry of a wounded humanity and broken earth. The Buddha and Jesus understood the need to overcome the egoism that gives rise to conflict and violence. The Dhammapada sums up the Buddha's teachings thus: "To avoid evil, to cultivate good, and to cleanse one's mind - this is the teaching of the Buddha" (Dph 183). Jesus told his disciples: "I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another" (Jn 13:34). Our task today is to guide our respective followers to a more vivid sense of the truth that we are all brothers and sisters. It follows that we should work together to cultivate compassion and hospitality for all human beings, especially the poor and marginalized.
In this spirit, I encourage your efforts to deepen and broaden your dialogue and cooperation with the Catholic Church. I thank you once again for your courteous gesture in visiting the Vatican to commemorate the memorable meeting between our venerable Predecessors. Trusting that your stay in Rome will be pleasant, I offer my prayerful good wishes for the Conference to take place this afternoon, entitled Friendship between Buddhists and Christians for a Culture of Encounter, at the Pontifical Urban University.
Upon you and upon all in your noble country I invoke an abundance of blessings from on high.
The speech of The Most Venerable Somdet Phra Mahathirachan (Board member of the Sangha Supreme Council of Thailand Abbot of Wat Phra Chetuphon Vimonmangklaram Rajwaramahawihan President of the Regulatory Office for Overseas Dhammaduta Bhikkhus) on 17th June 2022.
Respectful blessed Greetings, Your Holiness, Pope Francis, Supreme Pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church,
I, on behalf of the Sangha Supreme Council of Thailand, the Sangha Assembly of Wat Phra Chetuphon (Wat Pho), Bangkok, and friends of different traditional religions coming from Thailand, acknowledge today as an auspicious occasion for me and for all members of the delegation. This is because His Holiness, Pope Francis, Supreme Pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church, has offered His kindness and a warm welcome of friendship to me and to all our friends of different religions here, at the Vatican City.
Our beautiful friendship between the Roman Catholic Church and Wat Phra Chetuphon of the Kingdom of Thailand lasts, since the Most Venerable Somdet Phra Wannarat, former abbot of the same temple (The 17th Supreme Patriarch of Thailand) visited the Vatican City and had an audience with Pope Paul VI, on 5 June 1972. This meeting is seen as a beautiful bridge of friendship. Since then, delegations of the Sangha Assembly of Thailand have had opportunities to visit successive Popes.
On 16 May 2018, the representatives of the Sangha Assembly of Wat Phra Chetuphon visited the Vatican to deliver the Sacred Scripture of Phra Malai translitered from Khom language to Pali and Thai, according to the desire of His Holiness to display the Sacred Scripture from Thailand at the Vatican Museums.
The representatives of the Sangha Assembly of Wat Phra Chetuphon were later invited to the conference on “Religions and the Sustainable Development Goals”, at the Vatican City, 7 to 9 March 2019. The compassion of His Holiness made an unforgettable impression in the hearts of Christians, Buddhists and friends of different religions in Thailand. When His Holiness paid His apostolic visit to the Kingdom of Thailand from the 20th to the 23rd of November 2019, this was indeed a moment of grace, that brought immense joy and happiness into the life of every Thai.
On 21 November 2019, Your Holiness visited Wat Ratchabophit Sathit Maha Simaram in Bangkok and engaged in an extraordinary dialogue with Somdet Phra Ariyavaṃsāgatañāṇa (the 20th Supreme Patriarch of Thailand). At that time, I also had the honour to welcome His Holiness.
May the Triple Gem protect His Holiness and keep you in good health, so that you may undertake your great Petrine mission, bringing peace to all Christians around the world, to your friends of different religions and to all humanity in the y ears to come.
