Not only Catholic youths, but believers of other religions also participated in the World Youth Festival in Lisbon, meeting each other on the street and communicating with each other at the event venue.
(Vatican News.com) Among the 1.5 million young people who attended the World Youth Congress in Lisbon, believers of other religions have not been neglected. For example, Ashin Mandarlankara, a Burmese Buddhist monk, is often asked by young people on the streets of Lisbon which group he belongs to. The International Dialogue Center (Kaiciid) is located in Lisbon, and its members come from different religions and places. They met many young people at various activities of the World Youth Day, and had an audience with Pope Francis on August 4.
A youth-themed seminar on religious dialogue was held at the Belém Cultural Center on 1 August. Ioni Shalom, scribe of the World Congress of Jews in Latin America, shared his experience of discussing religious conversation with a group of priests in Israel. Shalom said: “We visited the hospital and one of the patients was a child who was injured by a landmine in Syria. The priest and I approached the child, held his hand and prayed together. The priest spoke Spanish and I said Hebrew. The child does not understand a single word, but he understands the meaning of everything. Beyond words, we live out the essence of religious conversation.”
Talking about the motivation for participating in the World Youth Day, the scribe Shalom explained: “I am here because these days are very important for you Catholics and I want to tell you that I am here and you can count on me. When Religious dialogue becomes even more important when young people are involved, because if you have a tree and you don’t take care of its roots, then it will be too late.”
The Burmese monk Manda Lankara shared: “In my country, the Buddhist youths do not have a united leader, they do not have such a vision. Our Catholic youths cannot attend, and it is difficult to obtain visas due to the political crisis in Myanmar.” Manda Lankara is studying in Rome this year, receiving a scholarship from the Center for Interreligious Intercourse of John Paul II. The Buddhist monk noted that Myanmar’s political challenges had a major impact on the lives of young people. Furthermore, those who decide to enter a Buddhist monastery are prohibited from studying secular subjects and can only study religious subjects from an early age. The WYD experience was very special for him, saying: “I walked down the street wearing a Buddhist monk’s attire, but I wore the WYD logo. It made young people feel like I was one of them, even though I’m different. It’s a big opportunity for me and for them.”
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2023-08-10 09:42:19
