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Italiano 
May 2019
Sr. Maria, while continuing her courses at the Gregorian University in Rome, has been asked to hold conferences or to take part in other events dealing with interreligious dialogue.
Among several such activities, particularly significant was her conference at the international residential seminary held by SEDOS (Service of Documentation and Study on Global Mission) at Ariccia (Rome), from April 28 to May 2, on “Mission in a Pluralistic World”. Sr. Maria spoke about “Charity in Christianity and Karuna/Jihi in Buddhism". The one hundred and ten participants, from over 30 different Countries, were Major Superiors of Religious Orders and Missionary Institutes, or their delegates.
Ariccia (Roma) SEDOS' residential seminary, April 28-May 2, 2019
On May 24, Sr. Maria held a conference at the “Istituto Santa Maria in Aquiro” of the Italian Senate, in Rome, to present the recent book of Olimpia Niglio: “Paesaggio sacro e architettura Cristiana nella Prefettura di Nagasaki” (“Sacred landscape and Christian architecture in the Prefecture of Nagasaki”). The event was co-sponsored by the “Association of Members of the European Parliament” and the “Foundation Italy-Japan”, to promote interreligious dialogue and intercultural exchange between the European Union and Japan.
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Since the beginning of the event, 30 years ago, Shinmeizan has taken part in the annual celebration of the birth of Shinran – (the great Buddhist master of the 13th century who has given birth to one of the largest Buddhist schools in Japan: the “True religion of the Pure Land”) – held at the Sainen Temple of Imari (Saga Pref.). This year, on May 18th, the Ven. Satoshi Ide, head of the Sainen Temple, on the occasion of its 30th anniversary, has made the event particularly interesting, opening it to a sort of Buddhist ‘ecumenical’ dimension, with a ‘dialog’ between a Zen monk and a monk of the Pure Land Tradition, as well as an ‘interreligious’ dimension, inviting his Christian friend Fr. Franco, of Shinmeizan, to address the audience of several hundred Buddhist faithful and friends of the Sainen Temple attending the event.
Fr. Franco among the speakers at Sainenji, on May 18, 2019