Vatican: preventing and fighting corruption, a common commitment of Christians and Buddhists
Message from the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue for the Buddhist festival of Vesakh. "We Buddhists and Christians, rooted in our respective ethical teachings, must work together to prevent corruption by eradicating underlying causes and removing corruption from the roots, where there is".
Vatican City (AsiaNews) - Christianity and Buddhism, which despite the difference of their ethical teachings see corruption as evil, must have a common commitment to prevent it and fight it, writes the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue writes in its message for Vesakh, which is the most important festival for Buddhists: it commemorates the main events in the life of Buddha.
Vesakh / Hanamatsuri 2018 festival is celebrated in the countries of Buddhist culture on different dates, according to different traditions. This year in most of the countries of Buddhist tradition it will be celebrated on May 29th.
In the document, signed by Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran and Msgr. Pier Luigi Celata, president and secretary of the dicastery, states that “we wish to reflect this year on the pressing need to promote a culture free of corruption. Corruption involving the abuse of positions of power for personal gain, both within the public or private sectors, has become such a pervasive scandal in today’s world that the United Nations has designated 9 December as International Anti-Corruption Day. As the phenomenon of corruption becomes more widespread, governments, non-governmental organizations, the media, and citizens around the world are joining together to combat this heinous crime. As religious leaders, we too must contribute to fostering a culture imbued with lawfulness and transparency”.
“Pope Francis’ monthly prayer intention for February 2018 was “Say ‘No’ to Corruption.” In denouncing “the sin of corruption,” he recognizes that corruption is found throughout the world among politicians, business executives and clerics. Those who ultimately pay the price for corruption, he observes, are the poor. Recalling the words of Jesus to his disciples, “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant” (Matthew 20:26), the Pope insists, “the only road leading out of corruption […] is service. Because corruption comes from pride, from arrogance, and service is humbling: it is precisely the humble charity of helping others” (Morning Meditation, Domus Santae Marthae, 16 June 2014).”
Thus “as Buddhists, you regard corruption as an unwholesome state of mind that causes suffering and contributes to an unhealthy society”.
“Even though, both our religious traditions firmly denounce the evil of corruption, we sadly acknowledge that some of our followers participate in corrupt practices and this leads to bad governance, corporate bribery and the pillaging of national assets. Corruption puts lives at risks for it is connected to low economic growth, weak investment, inflation, monetary devaluation, tax evasion, great inequality, poor education, sub-standard infrastructure, and the degradation of environment. It also threatens the health and safety of individuals and communities. People are scandalized by incompetent and corrupt politicians, ineffective legislation and the failure to investigate major corruption cases. Populist movements, sometimes motivated and sustained by religious fundamentalism, have arisen to protest the breakdown of public integrity”.
“We believe that corruption cannot be answered with silence, and that well-intentioned ideas will prove inadequate unless they are applied, and that such implementation is necessary for corruption to be eliminated. We Buddhists and Christians, rooted in our respective ethical teachings, must work together to prevent corruption by eradicating its underlying causes and to root out corruption where it exists. In this effort, our main contribution will be to encourage our respective followers to grow in moral integrity and a sense of fairness and responsibility. Our common commitment to combating corruption must include cooperating with the media and civil society in preventing and exposing corruption; creating public awareness of corruption; holding white-collar criminals who plunder national assets accountable for their actions, regardless of their ethnic, religious, political, or class affiliations; teaching and inspiring all people, but especially politicians and public servants, to act with the utmost fiscal integrity; calling for due legal process to recover assets that are stolen through corruption and bringing to justice those responsible for this crime: encouraging more women to participate in politics: refusing to entrust with public office those engaged in illegal activities; and introducing transparent and inclusive institutions based on the rule of law for good governance, accountability, and integrity”.
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