Dalai Lama attends Pentecost Mass of Viennese Cardinal

KATH.NET - Katholischer Nachrichtendienst

Cardinal Schönborn: "A person who is deeply rooted in their own faith, can show deep respect for the faith of others."

The Dalai Lama, contrary to earlier plans, taken part in the Pentecost Mass in Vienna's St. Stephen's Cathedral. The Archbishop of Vienna, Cardinal Christoph Schönborn said at the beginning of the Mass on Sunday that the Dalai Lama had asked to visit the St. Stephen as a "pilgrim" - in the same way he had visited the Marian shrines of Lourdes and Fatima and also Rome as a pilgrim. "A person who is deeply rooted in their own faith, can show deep respect for the faith of others", said Schönborn.

Schönborn had previously given the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism a tour of the Cathedral. The Dalai Lama placed a white Tibetan prayer shawl in the chapel of St. Barbara, which has been since 1983 a place of remembrance for the victims of the Nazi regime. During the tour through the St. Stephen's Cathedral, the Dalai Lama asked - differently from the originally scheduled program - to attend at least the first part of the service can be. A return flight to India was scheduled for Sunday afternoon. The Dalai Lama has lived there since he fled in 1959 into exile.