Towards a Buddhist-Catholic Interreligious Encounter

FERDINAND TABLAN TOWARDS A BUDDHIST-CATHOLIC INTERRELIGIOUS ENCOUNTER A Southeast Asian Perspective Introduction The Federation of Asian Bishops Conference (FABC) expresses the specific and necessary role of the Catholic Church in our pluralistic society, especially in Asia. The Catholic Church has to adopt a new form of mission if it wants to fulfill the aspirations and the needs of the people of Asia effectively in all re- spects. This “new way of being church” must emerge from a faith vision that comes from the journey of the people of God as they struggle to bring the per- sonal and communitarian experience of Jesus into the Asian context. This is in line with the teachings of Vatican II, which define the Catholic Church as a community church, i.e. a church in dialogue with peoples of other faiths and cultures. The “Declaration on the Relationship of the Church to Non-Christian Religions,” or Nostra Aetate, states: “[T]he Catholic Church rejects nothing which is true and holy in these religions” (Abbott 1966: 662). It also indicates the basic attitude that the Church must take in its dealings with followers of other religions, which is prudently and lovingly through dialogue and collaboration … and in witness of Christian faith and life, [to] acknowledge, preserve, and promote the spiritual and moral goods found among these men, as well as the values in their society and culture(Abbott 1966: 662-63). The purpose of this paper is both doctrinal and historical. It aims to mediate some of the diverse religious beliefs and teachings of Catholicism and Bud- dhism as presented and explained by various experts. As research into interreligious dialogue, this article focuses on the Southeast Asian region, which, given its religious diversity, is a natural soil for nourishing encounters between religions. In addition to analyzing the commonalities between Catholicism and Buddhism, this article aims to explore the impact of the two religions on the historical development of Southeast Asia and the common factors that contrib- uted to their growth and stabilization, in view of the fact that both religions are not indigenous to the region. 188 TOWARDS A BUDDHIIST-CATHOLIC INTERRELIGIOUS ENCOUNTER Religions in Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is a region of religious diversity. Islam (both Sunni and Shia), Catholicism, Protestantism, Confucianism, Hinduism, and Buddhism are all found here. The Sri Lankan form of Buddhism was imposed as a state religion by the great empire builders in Myanmar (Burma), Cambodia, Chiengmari, and Angkor. Islam has a strong foothold in maritime trading areas like Sumatra, Java, Champa, the east coast of Malaya, and southern Mindanao. Catholicism has been dominant in the Philippines since the arrival of the Spanish in the 16th century. The establishment of Confucianism in Vietnam took place during the 15th century. Aside from these major world religions, there are also indigenous animistic beliefs, whose historical origin is unknown and which view the whole material world as animated by good and evil spirits that need to be ap- peased and worshipped through rituals and shamanistic activities in exchange for health, power, wealth, and protection. The 16th century marked the beginning of conversion to Christianity and Islam. This coincided with what Anthony Reid calls “The Age of Commerce” in the region—a period characterized by direct and intense shipping between South- east Asia and the Red Sea. Reid enumerates eight reasons why many Southeast Asians converted to Christianity and Islam during this period. 1) There was a need for a universally valid faith, especially on the part of those who travel. 2) Both religions were believed to have the power to manipulate the spiritual world. 3) Muslims and Christians were seen as powerful allies by most local rulers in times of war, and even the Theravada kingdoms used them as mer- cenaries. 4) Islam and Christianity claimed that their spiritual authority rested on books written in a foreign language, which gave them the extra sacral weight of impenetrability. 5) Missionaries from the two religions based their authority on their ability to read and explain sacred texts. 6) Both religions contained reports of spiritual and physical healing. 7) Islam and Christianity presented a moral universe that was dependent on a simple but consistent con- cept of eternal reward and punishment. 8) Both religions valued family and procreation highly. Nonetheless, the transition from an old religion to a novel one can hardly be smooth and unproblematic. Oftentimes, people who profess the new faith still adhere to their former beliefs, and in some cases compromises have to be made. In the case of Southeast Asians, some of the reasons for such compromise are as follows. 1) The first was Islamic and Christian teachings on sexual morality, especially on the respective roles of male and female, that were, in the beginning, difficult to implement. 2) Prayers and offerings for the spirit of the dead which were part of the old belief went far too deep to be uprooted. Somehow, they had to be incorporated into the new scheme. Thus, honoring the dead continued to be a great preoccupation of many Christians and Mus- lims. 3) Rulers maintained their claim to traditional divine status, contrary to 189 STUDIES IN INTERRELIGIOUS DIALOGUE 21 (2011) 2 what both religions teach. In royal decrees, letters and chronicles, the king was still presented as the ultimate source of supernatural power in the land. On the mainland, Muslim influence was largely limited by the dominance of the Buddhist faith and the political influence of Confucian literati, especially in northern Vietnam. Muslim minorities emerged in some areas, such as Champa and Cambodia. Catholicism in the Philippines In the 1500s, Catholic Christianity reached the Philippines through the Spanish missionaries who were able to convert a large number of Filipinos living in po- litically autonomous units. While the Christianization of the archipelago was generally peaceful, insurgencies and rebellions continued on a small scale and in different places during the entire Hispanic colonial period. Since the arrival of Miguel Lopez de Legaspi (1565), religious missionaries were sent successively to the Philippines to Catholicize the islands, with the hope that the country would be the base for other missions in Asia, particularly China. The first of these missionaries were the Augustinians who worked in the Tagalog provinces as well as in Cebu, Panay, and the Ilocos region. They were followed by the Franciscans in 1578 who occupied Laguna and the Camarines Provinces, the Jesuits in 1581 who concentrated on some Visayan islands and Mindanao, the Dominicans in 1587 who worked in Bataan and Pangasinan, and the Recollects in 1606. These divisions in missionary territories enabled the Spanish missionaries to learn the various languages spoken by the natives. One significant factor in the conversion of the islands and their governance was the creation of religious dioceses, the oldest of which is the Diocese of Manila, created in 1581, with the Dominican friar Domingo de Salazar as its first bishop. In 1595, the dioceses of Cebu and Nueva Segovia were created. This was followed by Nueva Caceres in 1599 and Jaro, in Iloilo, in 1865. According to John Leddy Phelan, “the Spanish missionaries viewed them- selves as soldiers of Christ waging, with spiritual weapons, a war to overthrow the devil’s tyranny over pagan peoples” (Phelan 1959: 53). The religious or- ders used several techniques to make their evangelization effective. Some of these are as follows. 1) One was the policy of reduction (reduccion), i.e. ga- thering several barangays into one parish. 2) Another was the Cabecera-Visita system, in which the cabecera was the capital of the parish and visitas or chapels were set up in the different barangays. These chapels were visited regularly by the parish priest. 3) Pre- and post-baptismal instructions, such as the memorization of basic Catholic prayers, the Ten Commandments, the Creed, and the holy rosary, were also used. 4) A fourth method was infant bap- tism. 5) They also established primary or parochial schools and seminarios de indios or boarding schools for native boys who were the sons of datus and other prominent citizens. 6) Encomienderos, who were, among other things, 190 TOWARDS A BUDDHIIST-CATHOLIC INTERRELIGIOUS ENCOUNTER look after the religious life of the subjects, were used as well. 7) Missionaries also worked as engineers, architects, physicians, translators, and teachers. 8) These missionaries adapted in many ways to the customs, values, and struc- tures of Filipino society in an attempt to present Christianity in a form that was not too alien to the Filipino culture. They also substituted Catholic ceremonies for the local pagan ones such as marriage and town fiestas. 9) Finally, lay missionaries were used (cf. Phelan 1959: 73-79). In the course of history after the Spanish period, efforts were made to “Filipin- ize” Roman Catholicism through the establishment of the Aglipayan or the Philippine Independent Church by Gregorio Aglipay in 1902 and the Iglesia ni Kristo by Felix Manalo in 1914. The former successfully founded a number of churches in the northern part of the Philippines, whereas the latter has attracted many converts, especially among upper middle class Catholics. Various Protes- tant churches can also be found in the different parts of the archipelago, particularly on the main island of Luzon, which was established by Protestant teachers and missionaries who came to the country during the American colonial period (1900 to 1945). In the southern part of the country, which was un- successfully Christianized by the Spaniards, the Moros or Muslim Filipinos continue to profess their Islamic faith. Pre-Spanish religious beliefs, which are a blend of animism and ancestor worship, still exist among the ethnic com- munities in the Luzon highlands.

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