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Disturbing the peace

29 Mar 2009 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The psalmist appeals to the greatness of God’s compassion to “wipe out my offense.” The government of South Africa may want to approach the Dalai Lama, known for his compassion, with a similar plea after having barred him from entering the country for a peace conference this week that was later cancelled because of the public outcry over the Dalai Lama’s exclusion. The government had said Monday that the Tibetan leader would not be allowed to come to South Africa to attend the conference, meant to promote the 2010 World Cup, because his presence would have distracted attention from South Africa and drawn it instead to the contentious debate over the status of Tibet. Two of South Africa’s Nobel Prize winners, Desmond Tutu, the retired Anglican archbishop, and former President F. W. de Klerk, condemned the government for giving in to pressure from China and said they would refuse to participate in the conference if the Tibetan leader were not there. The executive director of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Geir Lundestad, also said he would stay away. “It is disappointing that South Africa, which has received so much solidarity from the world, doesn’t want to give that solidarity to others,” Lundestad said, referring to the decades-long fight against apartheid. South Africa is China's largest trading partner on a continent in which China is heavily and increasingly involved. China’s exports to Africa last year rose 36.3 percent from 2007 to $50.8 billion, while imports of African goods rose 54 percent to $56 billion, according to customs data reported by Xinhua, the Chinese state news agency. “South Africa is a newly emerging country and China is giving it considerable economic resources so it is understandable,” said Samdhong Rinpoche, the prime minister of the Tibetan government-in-exile Monday in Dharmsala, India. “Every country has to protect its economic and political interests.” After the cancellation Roman Catholic Cardinal Wilfrid Napier told the SAPA news agency: “I am concerned that this man of peace is not allowed into our country at this time when we need people of peace to inspire us. I’m very concerned that our rights to association, freedom of religion, and freedom of expression have been sold out to economic and political expedience once again.” Sources: Articles by Celia W. Dugger for the New York Times, Donna Bryson for the Associated Press, and Agence Presse France

Peace south africa world cup tibet f w de klerk desmond tutu nobel prize geir lundestad samdhong rinpoche wilfrid napier china dalai lama
Nobel Laureates call on nations to give peace a chance

29 Apr 2012 - Preaching the News for Sunday

“A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep,” Jesus says in this Sunday’s gospel, emphasizing the depth of his care and concern for the faith of his followers. Peace can be achieved if world leaders are willing to dedicate themselves deeply to making it happen and young people are encouraged to get involved, said leaders attending the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates 2012 in Chicago this week.Poverty, lack of education, and arms proliferation present daunting obstacles, speakers said, yet progress is possible if the commitment is there on the part of leaders and young people care enough to get involved. Former U.S. president Jimmy Carter, ex-presidents Mikhail Gorbachev of the former Soviet Union and Lech Walesa of Poland, the Dalai Lama, and Iranian human rights activist Shirin Ebad were among the Peace Prize winners attending during the three-day gathering of Peace Laureates and humanitarian organizations.Carter said that, as the last global superpower, the U.S. has a responsibility to be a leader in peace efforts and set an example to the rest of the world. Instead, he said, the U.S. is "too inclined to go to war" and is contemplating going to war again, "perhaps in Iran."It is the first time the Nobel Peace Prize summit has been held in North America. Former President Bill Clinton gave the keynote address Monday, during which he praised actor Sean Penn, who Wednesday received the 2012 Peace Summit Award for his work in Haiti. "Sean Penn, as I have always said, is not a drive-by celebrity in Haiti," Clinton said. "He is the only movie star I've ever known to move into a [muddy] tent for three months." Sources: Articles by Tammy Webber for The Huffington Post and Dahleen Glanton for the Chicago Tribune

bill clinton dalai lama jimmy carter nobel peace prize mikhail gorbachev lech walesa world summit of nobel peace laureates sean penn shirin ebad
Dalai Lama honored with Templeton Prize

20 May 2012 - Preaching the News for Sunday

God receives royal acclaim in the form of blaring trumpets and clapping hands, the psalmist announces this Sunday, while the author of the Letter to the Ephesians prays that the eyes of readers' hearts be enlightened so as to know “the riches of glory.” The Dalai Lama was cheered and honored Monday in London as he received the richly endowed Templeton Prize for his work highlighting the spiritual dimension of life. China invaded Tibet in 1950 and has occupied it ever since. After a failed Tibetan uprising, the Dailai Lama fled to India in 1959. He announced last year that he was giving up his role of political leader of Tibet and would focus on spiritual responsibilities. Speaking to reporters before the award ceremony at St. Paul's Cathedral in London, the Tibetan spiritual leader said millions of young Chinese were showing an interest in spirituality. "Look at China now, the moral crisis, corruption—immense," he said, adding that China had "no proper rule of law." The Buddhist monk said he would donate $1.5 million of the Templeton Prize money to charity Save the Children's work to combat malnutrition among children in India, where the Tibetan spiritual community resides in exile. The rest of the $1.8 million prize will go to scientific causes. The Templeton Prize honors the Dalai Lama's efforts to encourage "serious scientific investigative reviews of the power of compassion," organizers said. "Our real hope [is the] younger generation," the 76-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate told a crowd of more than 2,000 inside the cathedral. "If we properly educate them then they will change the whole world." Sources: Articles by Adrian Croft for Reuters, Agence France Presse, and templetonprize.org

china tibet dalai lama india save the children templeton prize
Dalai Lama may not come back for more

15 Mar 2015 - Preaching the News for Sunday

In exile, the sorrowful people of Israel remember their lost homeland, the psalmist informs us this Sunday. The 14th Dalai Lama, living in exile since China’s violent takeover of his homeland in 1959, says he may not be reincarnated, rather than allow China to determine the identity of the next Dalai Lama. In a scenario from theater of the absurd, China’s atheist leaders insist the Dalai Lama must reincarnate after death and that they, not Tibet’s exiled religious leaders, will determine who his reincarnated successor will be. Homily hint: The Dalai Lama has set an example of nonviolent resistance in more than 50 years of living in exile. He has taken his message of mindful nonviolence worldwide, gaining the respect of spiritual leaders and people of many backgrounds and traditions. Follow his example in your own struggle for justice concerning matters great or small. For more on tensions of Dalai Lama’s successor, see: China tensions with Dalai Lama spill into the afterlife

Justice Exile china tibet dalai lama
50 years in Tibet

13 Sep 2015 - Preaching the News for Sunday

Questions of Jesus’ identity are front and center in this Sunday’s gospel. The identity of Tibet has been in dispute since China invaded the once autonomous spiritual kingdom of Tibet in the 1950s and forced its leader, the Dalai Lama, to flee. This week China celebrated the 50th anniversary of its renaming of the region as the “Tibet Autonomous Region” with a rallying cry against its exiled spiritual leader. Chinese officials stressed the party line that the Dalai Lama is a dangerous separatist encouraging violence. The Dalai Lama, now based in India and revered worldwide, says he is only seeking greater spiritual and cultural protections and freedom for his Himalayan homeland. Homily hint: What happens in Tibet may be remote geographically, but when long-held spiritual traditions are upended by force anywhere in the world, believers of all faith traditions need to be concerned. Pray—and lobby—for religious accommodation and tolerance wherever they are forcibly suppressed. For more on China marking 50 years of rule in Tibet, see: China slams Dalai Lama as it marks 50 years ruling Tibet

china religious freedom tibet dalai lama
Quote of the week

19 Feb 2017 - Preaching the News for the Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

In the practice of tolerance, one's enemy is the best teacher. —The Dalai Lama

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Quotes

08 Aug 2021 - Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

Compassion, forgiveness, these are the real, ultimate sources of power for peace and success in life. —The Dalai Lama We are sad because we are unable to love. But the Eucharist gives us the one who on the night on which he was handed over (for us all), loved his own to the end. —Karl Rahner

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