Creating a space to talk about death is the aim of the group, says facilitator Aingie Miller, who wants to take the discomfort out of conversations.

"I believe that the more that we talk about death, the more comfortable we become."

Describing New Zealand as a "death denial country", Miller says talking helps people feel prepared for their own death or somebody close to them.

The Death Cafe movement was established in the UK by Jon Underwood in 2011, with the movement spreading to 85 countries.

Underwood was inspired by his Buddhist beliefs and the Swiss cafe mortel movement to create spaces to talk about death and dying. Read more

Speaking to a delegation of Buddhists from Thailand, he said "Sadly, on all sides, we hear the cry of a wounded humanity and a broken earth".

Inviting Buddhists to continue to work together with the Catholic Church "to cultivate compassion and hospitality for all human beings, especially the poor and marginalised," Francis pointed to our shared humanity.

Both Christians and Buddhists need to guide their respective followers to recognise more vividly the truth that "we are all brothers and sisters," he said.

"It follows that we should work together to cultivate compassion and hospitality for all human beings, especially the poor and marginalised.

"We need to deal with violence too," he said.

"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).

The main reason for the Buddhist delegation's visit to the Vatican was to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the meeting between St. Paul VI and the 17th supreme Buddhist patriarch of Thailand, Somdej Phra Wannarat.

Thanking them for their visit, Francis told them he wanted to renew the bonds of friendship and mutual collaboration.

Renewing Paul VI's sentiments when he met the Thai delegation 50 years ago, Francis said: "We have a profound regard for the spiritual, moral and socio-cultural treasures that have been bestowed on you through your precious traditions."

The past 50 years have seen a gradual and steady growth of "friendly dialogue and close collaboration" between the two religious traditions, he noted.

Recalling his apostolic visit to Thailand in 2019, Francis recalled "the wonderful welcome and hospitality" he received.

"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," he said.

Source

• Vatican News
• UCA News

Caritas NZ says the pilgrims are in Glasgow to pray and to press world leaders for strong action at COP26 - the 26th Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Religious leaders representing Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Sikh, Hindu, Buddhist and Baha'i traditions are offering prayers and calls for concrete actions.

The 31 October to 12 November conference is the first requiring countries to honour their Paris accord commitment to submit new, more ambitious plans to environmentally-damaging emissions.

Caritas NZ says the global Catholic charity has three critical targets it wants to see COP26 progressing:

• Strong emissions cuts to keep the 1.5C target alive
• More climate finance that is targeted and more readily accessible to the most vulnerable communities, equally shared between mitigation (cutting emissions) and adaptation. Finance to address Loss and Damage already incurred by the poor must be stepped up, recognising the ecological debt owed by richer countries to poorer ones.
• Tackling climate change in an integrated way, including protection and restoration of ecosystems and prioritising the needs of the poor in a just transition, in line with Laudato Si'.

During the conference, Caritas will hand over its "Healthy Planet, Healthy People" petition along with other messages from faith-filled activists and leaders from around the world.

Several hundred people gathered in the vicinity of the Scottish Events Centre when the conference opened, to pray for world leaders at the conference.

"We remind governments of their commitments made in Paris in 2015 to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees," says a multifaith declaration read at the event and signed by more than 50 religious leaders from Scotland and the United Kingdom.

Another multifaith statement asks "governments to swiftly and justly transition the global economy from fossil fuels toward renewables and compensate communities already affected by climate change."

"Across our doctrinal and political differences, we know that we must change our ways to ensure a quality of life which all can share, and we need to provide hope for people of all ages, everywhere, including future generations. To offer hope in the world we need to have confidence that those in power understand the vital role they have to play at the Glasgow COP26."

Scottish Catholic Bishop Brian McGee says the interfaith group is offering prayers for world leaders. It also expects to exert pressure on them to deliver on public demands for an urgent response to the climate crisis.

"Certainly that's what a lot of people have been doing. That is contacting the politicians and explaining to them that this is really, really important and we have to do something here," he says.

McGee says Catholic action at the climate summit shows love of God's creation and those suffering the impacts of global warming.

Pope Francis's "extraordinary leadership" in widening the ecological question beyond conservation has widened the way we look at creation and people suffering the impacts of global warming, McGee says.

"It's about how we treat people. It's about justice in all its forms."

Source

• La Croix
• Caritas
• Image: Caritas Internationalis

These allegations are "nothing new," he says.

The Dalai Lama, who is the Tibetan spiritual leader, was visiting the Netherlands when he commented publicly about sex abuse.

He had been invited to visit the Netherlands by four victims of sexual abuse by Buddhist teachers.

In their letter encouraging him to visit them during his current visit to Europe, the victims told the Dalai Lama they had "found refuge in Buddhism with an open mind and heart, until we were raped in its name,".

The Dalai Lama's office responded by saying he would talk to the victims during a "short audience" on Friday afternoon.

"His Holiness the Dalai Lama was saddened to learn of the sexual abuse suffered by students of Buddhist teachers," an official in his office wrote.

The Dalai Lama's meeting with the victims is believed to be the first time he has met with Buddhist abuse victims.

"I already did know these things, nothing new," the Dalai Lama said in response on Dutch public television NOS on Saturday.

"Twenty-five years ago ... someone mentioned about a problem of sexual allegations" at a conference for western Buddhist teachers in Dharamshala, a hill town in northern India.

People who commit sexual abuse "don't care about the Buddha's teaching. So now that everything has been made public, people may concern (sic) about their shame," he said.

Tseten Samdup Chhoekyapa, a representative of the Dalai Lama, says the Tibetan spiritual leader "has consistently denounced such irresponsible and unethical behaviour".

When Tibetan spiritual leaders meet in November they "should talk about it," the Dalai Lama says.

Source

• Channel News Asia
• BBC
• Channel News Asia
• Image: ABC News

Both Jesus and Buddha promoted non-violence and were peacemakers, says Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, who is the Council president.

In a letter marking the Buddhist religious festival of Vesakh addressed to "Buddhist friends", the Council urged a unified approach from both religions to help create a peaceful world.

Tauran says the letter notes while Catholicism and Buddhism are unique religions, both agree "violence comes from the human heart, and personal evils lead to structural evils".

If Catholics and Buddhists werre to teach all people the benefits of living a non-violent life, it would involve working together to prevent conflicts and to rebuild broken societies, the letter says.

It would also include urging the media "to avoid and counter hate speech and biased and provocative reporting".

Ways Catholics and Buddhists can respond to the Council's invitation include studying the causes of violence and teaching other Catholics and Buddhists to counter a range of factors that prevent peace and non-violence from flourishing.

The letter includes quotes from both Pope Francis's message for this year's World Day of Peace, and from the Buddhist Dhammapada.

Francis, whose papacy has emphasised disarmament, peacemaking and Christ's teachings about non-violence is quoted as saying:

"He walked that path [of nonviolence] to the very end, to the cross, whereby he became our peace and put an end to hostility," he said.

The Buddhist Dhammapada quote says Buddha "also heralded a message of nonviolence and peace.

"[Buddha] encouraged all to overcome the angry by non-anger; overcome the wicked by goodness; overcome the miser by generosity; overcome the liar by truth," it says.

Source

• National Catholic Reporter
• Lion's Roar
• Catholic Herald
• Image: The Tibet Post