All around the world today Catholics and Buddhists are engaged in dynamic interfaith encounter. Catholic theologians discuss vital questions of doctrine with their Buddhist counterparts. Priests and laypeople from both traditions explore time-honored methods of prayer and meditation. Activists in both communities join forces to promote human rights and environmental healing. Monks from both faiths seek common ground in the wisdom of simplicity and silence.

Despite this impressive level of interfaith exchange, many Catholics are not fully acquainted with the Buddhist legacy of belief and practice. Some identify Buddhism with romantic images disseminated by Hollywood films and “New Age” merchandise. Many Catholics have no direct contact with the living Buddhism of ethnic and cultural identity.

As members of two of the world’s oldest and largest religious traditions, Buddhists and Catholics can gain much from dialogue with one another. Both traditions have spawned civilizations that bear witness to the highest aspirations of the human soul. Both have produced classics of spiritual insight and inspired unforgettable lives of compassionate service. Despite their differences, Buddhists and Catholics testify to the enduring relevance of humanity’s quest to find answers to what the Second Vatican Council called “the unsolved riddles of human existence” (Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions, 1).