Assisi silent prayer suits Asian Church

(Oct.26, 2011) The silent, personal prayer that will mark Thursday’s interfaith meeting in the Italian town of Assisi, hosted by Pope Benedict XVI is something very much in line with Asian religiosity, a top Vatican official responsible for interreligious dialogue told ucanews recently. Monsignor Andrew Thanyaanan Vissanu, the Thai-born undersecretary of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, said that “we Asian people, we pray in silence. Silence is in itself a way of prayer. Thus, he added, the initiative to do away with public prayers by the different religious communities, as in the first such gathering called for by Pope John Paul II in 1986, in favour of a moment of private prayer, has been well received by Asian religious leaders. Monsignor Vissanu said “The Holy Father would like to invite people to make a pilgrimage in search for the truth, and to a reflection into our soul about the truth.” He said that for the first time the “Peace Pledge” that marks the culminating moment of the interfaith meeting will be recited in Chinese by a Taoist representative from Hong Kong. He also added that for the first time there will be a delegation from mainland China in Assisi - a group of monks from Shaolin Monastery in Henan, led by Great Abbot Shi Yongxin. Monsignor Vissanu said the selection of delegations invited to Assisi was conducted in close consultation with local Churches and bishops’ conferences. The Asian contingent at the Assisi gathering will include 68 Buddhist representatives from 11 countries, three Confucians, three Taoists, 17 Shintoists and 13 representatives from four new religions in Japan. Participating will also be some 18 representatives from India representing Hinduism, Jainism, Zoroastrianism, Sikhism and Bahaism.