Posted on 10/21/2026 5:21:07 PM PDT by ebb tide
The Archdiocese of Milan launched an official five-part course on Buddhism as preparation for World Youth Day while failing to mention Jesus Christ or Catholic doctrine a single time.
On October 21, as reported by the Italian daily newspaper La Verità, details emerged regarding an official initiative organized by the Youth Ministry of the Archdiocese of Milan and the “Carlo Maria Martini Center” in partnership with the state-run University of Milano-Bicocca. Titled “In the Footsteps of the Buddha: Journey, History, Thought, and Traditions of Buddhism,” the five-part online course is scheduled to run from October 26 to November 23.
According to official promotional materials published on the archdiocesan youth ministry portal, the program is explicitly presented as an integral part of Milan’s preparation for World Youth Day 2027 in Seoul, South Korea, offering university credits and a formal “open badge” to participants who pass an examination on Buddhist doctrine.
“While the sad reality shows that young people no longer know Christ, diocesan officials in Milan think it is useful to make Buddha known to them. This is the fruit of a distorted vision of reality that unfortunately characterizes many curial officials,” Italian journalist Gianfranco Amato wrote.
The official curriculum published by the Archdiocese of Milan reveals that the weekly lectures will cover the entire historical development of Buddhist thought. It begins with an overview of the life and teachings of Buddha and the basic principles of the Buddhist path. It then explores Theravāda Buddhism, the oldest surviving Buddhist tradition, which emphasizes monastic discipline and personal spiritual liberation.
Another session focuses on Mahāyāna, or the “Great Vehicle,” a major branch of Buddhism that stresses compassion and the goal of helping all beings attain enlightenment. Participants will also learn about Zen Buddhism, a school known for its emphasis on meditation and direct spiritual experience, and about Korean Buddhism, which developed its own distinctive traditions while drawing on broader East Asian Buddhist thought and practice.
The diocesan youth office explicitly justifies the course by stating that it will address themes such as “the meaning of existence, the experience of suffering, the search for happiness, the ethics of coexistence, and the relationship between interiority and the world, emphasizing the contribution of Buddhism to intercultural and interreligious dialogue.”
In another version of the same commentary published on the Italian Traditional blog messainlatino.it, Amato cited Servant of God Father Luigi Giussani, an educator well-known and loved among Catholics in Milan, and his landmark work “At the Origin of the Christian Claim,” in which the founder of Communion and Liberation explicitly refuted the modern syncretist notion that “Christians have Christ, just as Buddhists have Buddha.”
Fr. Giussani emphasized that unlike Buddha or Mohammed, Jesus Christ is the sole figure in human history who substantially identified Himself as God incarnate and the exclusive destiny of humanity. By promoting Buddhist teachings as a preparation for a Catholic youth gathering, the Archdiocese of Milan effectively capitulated to religious indifferentism.
Under the leadership of Archbishop Mario Delpini, the Archdiocese of Milan promoted a number of controversial initiatives centered on so-called interreligious dialogue. On May 11, it unveiled a planned “futuristic monastery” intended as a shared space for Christians, Muslims, and Buddhists, with organizers presenting it as a model of intercultural and interfaith coexistence.
The initiative follows other high-profile events in the archdiocese, including a February 2024 closed-door meeting between senior Catholic figures and leaders of Italy’s principal Masonic obediences. Attended by Archbishop Delpini, Cardinal Francesco Coccopalmerio, Bishop Antonio Staglianò, and three Italian Grand Masters, the gathering focused on dialogue between the Church and Freemasonry and so-called “potential common ground.”
“While the sad reality shows that young people no longer know Christ, diocesan officials in Milan think it is useful to make Buddha known to them. This is the fruit of a distorted vision of reality that unfortunately characterizes many curial officials,” Italian journalist Gianfranco Amato wrote.
The official curriculum published by the Archdiocese of Milan reveals that the weekly lectures will cover the entire historical development of Buddhist thought. It begins with an overview of the life and teachings of Buddha and the basic principles of the Buddhist path. It then explores Theravāda Buddhism, the oldest surviving Buddhist tradition, which emphasizes monastic discipline and personal spiritual liberation.
Ping
As the Buddhist said to the hot dog man, make me one with everything.
The reason a Catholic should know about Buddhism is to have a better understanding of how to work with the Holy Spirit to bring Buddhists to Christ. This, of course, ain’t it. If I say any more I will get in trouble.
Love that old joke. Still hits the mark. Thanks.
A Buddhist monk walks up to a hot dog vendor and says “Make me one with everything”.
The hot dog vendor hands over the sausage and bun with all the trimmings, and the Buddhist hands over a twenty. The vendor pockets it.
The Buddhist asks “Where’s my change?” and the vendor replies “change must come from within”.
A gun then extends from the Buddhist’s chest and he asks again.
The vendor says “Whoa, man, where did that come from?”
The Buddhist replies “This is my inner piece”.
LOL.
I recall a late night hotdog stand in Sonora years ago. Mi novia said ‘get everything but the mayo.’
LOL.
I recall a late night hotdog stand in Sonora years ago. Mi novia said ‘get everything but the mayo.’
” Inner piece”
Very Inspiring
What?!?!?!?!?
I’m really very much a latitudinalist. I have respect for all respectable religions. So, you know, not Satanism, etc. And, somewhat regretfully, I can no longer include Islam as a “religion”, but that’s on them.
HOWEVER, the RC Church does not need to be instructing anyone on Buddhism. What exactly are they doing?
Sigh and mega sigh.
You made a point I thought of and didn’t: learning about Theravada Buddhism before going to South Korea is a little like a Buddhist learning about Greek Orthodoxy before going to a Pentecostal youth gathering at the Hollywood Bowl.
The two religions named after women, Janeism and Judyism.
Employment for filthy lucre calls.
If you know ABOUT other religions, it is easier to explain Christianity to them in terms they can understand.
A seventh century socio-political system masquerading as a religion, which teaches that if you fail to adopt it you must be dominated, enslaved or killed does not qualify.
A seventh century socio-political system masquerading as a religion, which teaches that if you fail to adopt it you must be dominated, enslaved or killed does not qualify.
Both of you seem to be assuming that the “youth” attending this Buddhism class prior to “world youth day” know the one true Catholic Faith well enough to explain it to anybody.
Actually I am assuming the opposite.
Have you ever been for a World Youth day? They tend go be late teens and in their early 20s.
Let nd tell you an anecdote not related to Workd Youth day — about 20 years ago a friend of mine who is a devout and highly Biblically literate Catholic who also knows the Catechism and church writings pretty well, and is a Japanologist professor (she devours books ) was talking with the daughter of a friend.
The daughter was in her third year studying Christian theology at university.
And yet this young woman was making blatantly wrong statements about Buddhism to my friend and doing so with great confidence.
If the young woman had gone as a missionary to Japan, Korea etc a reasonably well educated Buddhist would not 9noy prove her wr8ng but might even have gotten her to doubt her faith (that never happened as the young lady stayed home, git married and now is a happy mother of 5).
Let me pose to you, northmountain, some Buddhist rejoinder to Christianity:
1. They say Jesus went to India and learnt from Buddhists and there is a buddhist monastery of him in Kashmir. Btw this is rather reporting on Appollonius of Tyana, a famous Stoic philosopher who lived 59 years after Christ and travelled to india and was more famous than christ in the roman and Persian world for the 1st and 2nd centuries
2. They say Christianity is just like buddhism. Now 8f you have no idea about Buddhism you might be swayed by the superficial similarities, but if you knew, then you would point out Buddhism origin in Sanatana Dharma, its relationship in very Indian beliefs on reincarnation, brahmacharis, sadhus and renunciation while christianity is firmly in the Judean ethos.
Try debating with Muslims in person. I have and do. They are taught from a young age zingers to pose to Christian’s. If you don’t know your own faith and theirs well, you might get confused.
Net net, it is important for the youth to know Buddhism to some extent and how it ain’t Christianity before they go to south korea
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