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JOINT STATEMENT OF AUSTRALIAN FAITH COMMUNITY REPRESENTATIVES:
AUSTRALIA’S RESPONSE TO THE COVID19 PANDEMIC SO FAR, LOOKING AHEAD NOW.
May 15, 2020.
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Compassion is at the heart of our faiths. It is our unifying ethic. So it is with compassion that we make this Joint Statement as Multifaith Leaders.
We were initially drawn together in Video Conference on April 15 at the invitation of the Hon. Alan Tudge, Acting Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs. We were asked then to support the government’s efforts to manage the COVID19 pandemic. This Statement conveys our continuing readiness to assist.
We appreciate Minister Tudge’s acknowledgement of the work being done by Australia’s religious communities at this time to provide spiritual guidance, reach out to those less fortunate, and provide care to those who need it. While observing physical distancing, all traditions seek to provide individual and community connection and the qualities of hope and faith in the face of this global health crisis. Both nationally and internationally, we are painfully aware of the suffering caused by this lethal virus.Accordingly, we are aware of how COVID19 has rendered the vulnerable even more vulnerable, both in Australia and overseas.
Overseas, there are millions stranded in their own country or in another country, without work, food, shelter or access to our quality of Health Service. Many lack even sanitisers and face-masks, and are in crowded circumstances with limited testing facilities to help prevent the spread of COVID19. We cannot think of our circumstances without compassion for those so vulnerable in places where there continue to be wave after wave of COVID19 deaths.
eVesak: Coming Together in Kindness for the Buddha’s Birthday
The birth of the Buddha, commemorated at Vesak, has inspired followers through the ages as Buddhism travelled to different cultures. Each Buddhist community has a rich, ancient cultural tradition around Vesak, usually a local event. This year will mark a new kind of celebration—Coming Together in Kindness online.
In a time when we cannot gather together at one location, our hope is to create togetherness online by sharing our traditions through recordings and live engagement.
Join us as we make history, Coming Together in Kindness for eVesak 2020, on Mother’s Day to signify the birth of hope and light in the world.
This was livestreamed on Sunday 10 May 2020 from 4 PM (AEST).
We thank all contributors and ask supporters and temples to kindly offer some financial support for this event (which currently runs at a deficit) via our GoFundMe link.
“Against the challenging backdrop of COVID-19 Buddhist temples from around Australia have come together to produce an online Vesak celebration. I recommend tuning in for all or part of the program for blessings on the occasion of the Buddha’s Birthday” —Michael Wells (Chairperson of the Federation of Australian Buddhist Councils).