Sister Siphim Xavier, chaplain of the Catholic Commission for Social Development, invited some religious leaders to assess the relevance of Pope Francis’s encyclical. For Buddhist monk, “religious leaders were always influenced by nature”. At the same time, “Peace,” a Muslim scholar notes, “must go hand in hand with action.”
Bangkok (AsiaNews) – Pope Francis’s Laudato si’ looks “at the facts of life that are close to us, that affect our daily lives," said Chamnien Woraratnachaipan, representative of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), with respect to the pope’s latest encyclical.
Sister Siphim Xavier, an Ursuline nun and chaplain of the Catholic Commission for Social Development, invited him along with other Thai leaders, both religious and lay people, to discuss the topicality of the papal document published last year.
Starting with Laudato Si’‘s environmental considerations, Woraratnachaipan said, "Now the conservation of the ecosystem and sustainability are topics of common discussion. Exchanging ideas helps to understand that one cannot leave the issue to the government. Society must participate in an active way to achieve concrete results."
Phra Winai Siriwatutno, a Buddhist monk, noted that "the Buddha spent most of his time in the forest, like the founders of other religions. In this sense, one can conclude that religious leaders were influenced by nature. This helped them understand the truth of life and communicate it to the others. "
For Sumol Nakchalerm, a practicing Buddhist, “Inner peace comes from a serene environment at school, at home and in the workplace. Human beings, the economy and the ecosystem are related subjects and one cannot do without any one of them."
“Peace,” however, "cannot appear only in words,” said Professor Wallapa Neelapaijit, a Muslim. “It must go hand in hand with action. Islam emphasises the importance of the values of mercy, peace and friendship. Men can create a world in peace only if they treat each other with mercy. What would happen if we did not love each other as brothers and sisters?"
According to Fr Saengtien, a Jesuit, Laudato si’, which was published on 24 May 2015, gives particular attention to inter-faith dialogue. This aspect, he said, "is emphasised where the encyclical speaks about cooperation, which all human beings must undertake to solve social and environmental problems. The advice the pope gives is to be humble enough to accept to learn about these issues even from the believers of other religions."