Monday, June 04, 2012

Dalai Lama meets with Card. Schönborn: The teaching of Christ is a treasure for humanity

"Thousands of millions of people have found huge benefit in the teachings of Jesus Christ, which allowed them to live their lives to the full. This is a treasure for mankind." 

With these words, the Dalai Lama thanked the Catholic archbishop of Vienna, Card. Christoph Schönborn, who accompanied him to St. Stephen's Cathedral on the final day of his trip to Austria.
The Buddhist leader, who has travelled to Europe for a series of political meetings and meetings of prayer and teaching, has long insisted on visiting the church: "Since 1975 I have taken the pledge, as part of my battle to promote religious harmony, of going on pilgrimage to the places of worship of the places where I am. Christ's teaching has deeply affected me and the atmosphere that I breathed in Lourdes and Fatima, to give just one example, was a ' inspiration. "

The two religious figures spoke at length about the various aspects of monastic life. The Dalai Lama has stressed the importance of silence in the lives of some Catholic monks, which they have in common with those of other religious: "All religions convey the message of love and compassion. The religious conflicts, like those in Ireland and in Muslim communities , is a contradiction. "

For his part, Card. Schönborn thanked the Dalai Lama: "For us it is a great joy to receive your visit. You have shown great love for our nation and I hope that we too have reciprocated that love. You spoke of  your commitment to live in harmony: I am a Dominican monk, and you too are a monk. I believe we ​​have many points in common in our religious life. "