On the morning of Wesak Day 10th May 2017, our Parish Priest Rev Fr Lawrence Andrew. SJ led a delegation of six from the newly formed Parish Ministry of Ecumenical and Inter-Religious Affairs (PMEIA) to celebrate the auspicious occasion wirh the Thai Buddhist Chetawan Temple, also known as Wat Chetawan, at Jalan Pantai Off Jalan Gasing, Petaling Jaya.
Our group from SFX were cordially met on arrival by The Temple Chief Abbot, Venerable Phra Pien Saccadammo, The Temple resident monk, Phra Syetha Piyaksilo, and Temple Community Elder Datuk Saiyun.
On Wesak Day Buddhists gather in temples to pay homage to Lord Buddha. Wesak is the holiest day for Buddhists, celebrating the Buddha's birth, enlightenment and his passing away.
During the dialogue session the temple elders welcomed our ap-proach of peace for an environment of harmonious living among all peoples in the neighborhood and the initiative to engage in inter-religious dialogue and offer of future collaboration in the face of current on-goings in our nation and the world at large.
We exchanged views on current realities facing religious communities, parking issues and traffic congestion during feast days and learnt how the temple handle their security issues utilizing the latest advanced technologies of high tech CCTVs and fiber optic cables.
Datuk Saiyun expressed willingness to reciprocate our visit by visiting our church in the near future which Fr Lawrence welcomed with open arms. Both agreed to have more dialogue sessions like this in order that we get to know each other better and better collaborate on common issues affecting us. The significant role of Pope Francis in rebuking evil around the world and speaking up for the oppressed and voiceless was also mentioned.
