October 2021

Among the activities of this month, besides the monthly retreat held on Oct. 14, we wish to mention the following:

On Oct. 3^rd, a meeting of the Kumamoto Group of interreligious dialogue, called by Shinmeizan, was held at the Catholic Church of Tetori (Kumamoto), to `restart` its activities, after almost two years of interruption, due to the covid-19.

At the meeting, Fr. Franco spoke about the theological and historical motivations for interreligious dialogue, and Prof. Nagahama, Secretary of the Group,  recalled the main events of the almost 30 years long history of the Group.

On Oct. 8, Fr. Franco, upon invitation of Fr. Rocco Viviano, SX, in charge of Ecumenical and Interreligious Dialogue in the Archdiocese of Osaka,   met the Committee for Interreligious Dialogue sharing with its members his spiritual journey in this field of activity.

On October 15^th,  the 4^th meeting of the Group `Shinmeizan Kosankai` took place with the visit of Ven. Hara Onin, Head of the Choen Temple (Kumamoto) and the participation of Ven. Shaku of the Hoko Temple (Ogaki, Kifu Pref.)  The study meeting, held online (via ZOOM), to which monks of the Nichiren Buddhist School are invited, deals with the Lotus Sutra in dialogue with the Christian faith.

On October 29, Sr. Maria travelled to Tokyo to take part in a meeting of the subcommittee for interreligious dialogue of the Bishops` Conference of Japan.

The meeting of the Kumamoto Group for Interreligious Dialogue (October 3)

• During this month Sr. Maria also:

  • Participated in a symposium on New Trends in Mission, organized by SEDOS (Rome) (Service of Documentation and Study on global mission), held online on October 11-15, with a paper on Interreligious dialogue in the context of mission. ORBIS BOOK will publish the papers presented at this symposium under the title: New Trends in Mission, The Emerging Future.
  • On October 15, as a member of the `Board on Buddhism`, Sr. Maria also took part, in   streaming from Japan, in the meeting `Tavoli di studio` (Study Groups), called by the National Office for Ecumenism and Interreligious Dialogue of the Italian Bishops` Conference.
  • Egeria (the review of the Saint Catherine of Sienna`s Higher Institute of Religious Sciences of Tuscany) (Number 15/2021, pp.89-101) published an article by Sr. Maria on “Cristiani e Buddhisti sulle vie del dialogo. Rivisitazione storica (Christians and Buddhists on the road of dialogue. A historical overview.)
  •  Another article by Sr. Maria: La “donna” nel Magistero e nei Documenti della Chiesa post-conciliare (`Woman`in the Post-Vatican II Magisterium and Church documents`, will be published in Donne e Chiesa: per un laboratorio di idee, edited by Marta Rodriguez, Libreria Editrice Vaticana, pp. 217-241.
  
  

  Sr. Maria joins via internet meetings and conferences abroad