Vatican congratulates Buddhists on Buddha's birthday

Buddhist Vesak Festival in Malaysia, 2025. Photo: ANSA

On May 12, 2025, on the occasion of the main Buddhist holiday Vesak, which marks the birth of the Buddha, the Vatican's Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue sent a congratulatory message to Buddhist communities around the world.

The document emphasizes the Catholic Church's desire to continue on the path of "mutual respect and cooperation" with Buddhist representatives.

The Vatican also highlighted the spiritual significance of Vesak, which this year coincided with the Catholic Jubilee, a time of grace, reconciliation and spiritual renewal.

The Catholic Church also reminded Buddhists of the 60th anniversary of the declaration Nostra Aetate from the Second Vatican Council, which affirms the Church's respectful attitude toward other religions: "The Catholic Church rejects nothing of what is true and holy" in other traditions.

In this document, Buddhism is described as "a path of piety and human hope, open to divine assistance."

The message concludes with a call for joint testimony of religions through dialogue and concrete actions for peace, justice, and the dignity of every person, especially in the time marked by division, conflict, suffering and other challenges of the modern world.

Vesak (Pali Vesākha, Sanskrit Vaiśākha), also known as Buddha Jayanti, Buddha Purnima, and Buddha Day, is a holiday traditionally celebrated by Buddhists and some Hindus in South and Southeast Asia, as well as in Tibet and Mongolia.

On this day, the birth, enlightenment, and death of Buddha Shakyamuni are commemorated in the Theravada, Navayana, and Tibetan Buddhist traditions. In East Asian traditions, Buddha's birthday is typically celebrated during Vesak, while his awakening and death are marked as separate holidays at different times.

As earlier reported, in Rome, Catholic bishops participated in a pagan ceremony.

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