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St. Bernadette Church in Springfield hosts Tibetan association

Elizabeth A. Elliott | Catholic Herald Staff Writer

Yongzi Ling Rinpoche, who speaks internationally on Buddhism; Fr. Donald J. Rooney, pastor of St. Bernadette Church in Springfield; and Rizwan Jaka of the ADAMS Islamic Center in Herndon, dialogue about healing and spirituality from their religious traditions at St. Bernadette School in Springfield Aug. 25. ELIZABETH A. ELLIOTT | CATHOLIC HERALD

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Members of the Capital Area Tibetan Association’s language class students perform at the Tibetan Cultural Show at St. Bernadette School in Springfield Aug. 25. ELIZABETH A. ELLIOTT | CATHOLIC HERALD

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Decorated with Tibetan prayer flags hanging from the basketball
hoops and the stage bursting with colorful tapestries, the St. Bernadette
School gym in Springfield was transformed for the Capital Area Tibetan
Association’s visit by the seventh Yongzin Ling
Rinpoche, who speaks internationally on Buddhism.

For a people who have been in exile for decades, St. Bernadette
provided the Tibetan community a home Aug. 24-25.

Father Donald J. Rooney, pastor and director of the diocesan
Office of Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, belongs to a Buddhist Catholic
study group and opened the parish to this event. “The Tibetans have been in
exile since 1959. They’re very afraid of the young people forgetting all of
their traditions and culture, so we were able to provide a place for them to
bring this high-level lama to teach them about their religion,” he said. “I
think we need to provide hospitality for each other like this.”

St. Bernadette parishioners were invited to join the lunch,
interreligious prayer and dialogue, and Tibetan cultural show Aug. 25.

The prayer and dialogue opened with a chant by Venerable Ling
Rinpoche. Buddhist, Christian, Muslim and Hindu prayers for healing were
offered by Venerable Bhante Uparatana of the Sri Lankan Buddhist Temple in
Wheaton, Md.; Father Rooney; Rizwan Jaka of the ADAMS Islamic Center in
Herndon; and Vasudeva Murthy of the Sri Siva Vishnu Temple in Lanham, Md.

“Healing is needed in so many ways in people’s lives,” said
Father Rooney. “The greatest healing that we need is the healing of division.”

After the prayer, each faith representative gave talks on
spiritual and physical healing.

The dialogue was followed by entertainment, including
performances by the Capital Area Tibetan Association Children’s Language Class
and former members of the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts, as well as
Mongolian and Vietnamese cultural shows.

St. Bernadette parishioner Henry Champagne said he appreciated
hearing what the other religions believe.

“Father Rooney’s activities with the interreligious (community)
have intrigued me,” he said. “I see how different we are but how alike we are
in a lot of ways.”

Lara Paul, a parishioner or Blessed Sacrament Church in
Alexandria, is a member of PIERs (Parish Interreligious and Ecumenical Representatives).
She appreciated hearing how the different traditions approached the topic of
healing.

“It’s very easy to fall into stereotypes and not see other faith
traditions as regular people and not see how much we have in common and how
much we can learn from each other,” she said. 

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