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Bishop "Sincerely" Apologises after "Blasphemy" [against Buddah]

Father Jean-François Laco of Sainte-Suzanne, a commune in Réunion, a French overseas department near Madagaskar, preached on Pentecost (May 19) against false religions.

Laco is also a composer and singer. "I don't believe in that fat, sitting man, the one with a nice belly, who is called Buddha", he preached saying that Buddha statues should not be used for decoration: "That doesn't bring peace, but rather disorder."

The video reportedly received 180,000 views and allegedly hundreds of [bot] comments. Réunion has 885,700 people and Laco spoke in a kind of French that can only be understood by locals which means that over 20% of the population has seen the video which is unlikely.

The priest deleted the video but copies of it remained available in the internet.

At the behest of his bishop, he expressed his regret using the usual formulas like "parts of the sermon had been excerpted" and "words taken out of the context".

"If you watch the video of the homily in its entirety, you'll think: He's in his church preaching on Pentecost, reminding Christians to be faithful to God", the priest explained.

Monsignor Pascal Chane-Teng, Bishop of Saint-Denis-de-La Réunion, issued a statement on June 5 in which he "sincerely" apologised claiming that "the position of the Catholic Church and the diocese is one of respect for others, their culture and their religious beliefs [as long as it is not the Roman Rite].”

Had the priest uttered a real blasphemy against Christ or Our Lady, the same diocese together with the Vatican, would have laughed and called it "art" and put Laco on the list of the candidates for bishop.

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P. O'B

Jun 8

The priest erred. St Paul in Athens did not make fun of the pagan gods worshipped there. How does making fun of Buddha help in trying to convert a follower of his?

Juan Perez

Jun 8

I'm afraid this is the main reason why they record masses. To have complete control over what it is being said.

Billy F

Jun 8

Priests can’t even preach truth anymore without their Secular Humanist Bishops silencing them! No Supernatural Faith!

Tony M

3Jun 7

So many in the hierarchy have become.....'pathetic'.

Christopher Shahrazade

Jun 7

Lots of homes in my area have BUddha statues in their gardens...not to worship but for decoration. NOthing wrong with that.

SonoftheChurch

Jun 8

It is evil.

Tom Jones

4Jun 7

Get rid of any statues, etc. of a false god you might own.

Boanerges Boanerges

Jun 7

A victory of antichurch against True Church of Christ

Naomi Arai

Jun 7

Siddhartha Gautama did teach some truth...and yes, even a broken clock is right twice a day...but he certainly did not teach, or have a chance to know the full truth. For a pagan, the guy was not the worst...certainly better than the Mohammedans. Some worship him. Others treat him like a holy man. The "fat" Buddha is just a visual to show he was "spiritually rich", but in reality he gave his princely wealth to the poor and practiced self-denial. Not the worst practices to preach and propagate for a pagan.

I admit, it's a weird scenario. Would I be a little more prudent, (as in "wise as serpents and simple as doves" Matt 10:16) as a priest, about doing a cheap personal attack ("fat guy") on a guy held in high esteem, Buddha, especially when there are so many Muslim tensions and conquests? Yeah, probably. There are still plenty of ways to say exactly the same thing and nobody would have batted an eye. "Don't have statues of other gods or other religions. Don't have talismens, charms, etc." It's basic. Nobody would have be shocked by that.

I would probably whack back the Muslim world control to take care of it, but we are far from the Crusades now...

Christopher Shahrazade

Jun 7

THe "fat Buddah" is a symbol for good fortune. I've seen it many times at the entrance to Chinese restaurants in NYC and Los Angeles. It's also a "good luck" representation of the Buddha, not the stoic, severe depiction of him the faithful use to honor/worship.
I really don't think Buddhists "worship" Buddha in the strict sense (like a "god") Instead, they honor Buddha as a great teacher, mystic, prophet, leader, and a channel to their understanding of "God". Buddha himself did not want to be worshiped after his death, or honored. His followers had other ideas after his death, and did exactly what he didn't want......being made into a "god" with thousands of statues and depictions. Just like Catholics, Buddhists have monks, nuns, active "orders" of monks or nuns as well as strictly cloistered ones. In the very beginning centuries of Buddhism, they staffed schools, "hospitals", and homes for the aged of their time. No more however, THe religious life in Buddhism evolved more into a contemplative lifestyle rather than the active/service life as religious. I have no fault with BUddhism. I think its a very noble religion....which has never started a war etc., especially for the sake of religion like CAtholics and especially Protestants and Islam have done.

philosopher

Jun 9

The Buddhism practiced by contemplative monks, which are but a tiny percentage of practicing Buddhists, see Buddha as teaching the way to non-Being, which is the ultimate goal of Buddhism. Absolute non-Being is God devoid of essence, substance and personality. It is a state of non existence. This is distinct from the masses of eastern Buddhists who do see Buddha as a god or divine entity with personality whom they pray to with requests and guidance. Human nature finds worship of impersonal forces or void of non-Being not very satisfying. So, non-Being is a fundamental error of Buddhist doctrine. The personal nature of God is really what the Eastern common people crave and we see it in their heterodoxic deviation with making Siddhartha into a divine entity.