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Building Bridges of Peace

Pope Leo XIV: Building Bridges of Peace

by Dario Doshin Girolami, founding and guiding teacher of Centro Zen l’Arco in Rome

On Sunday May 18 I was invited to represent Buddhism at the Installation Mass of Pope Leo XIV held in St. Peter Square. The following morning I was invited, together with other members of the Italian Buddhist Union, to a private audience for the different religious traditions, in the evocative setting of the Clementine Hall of the Apostolic Palace.

Pope Leo XIV welcomed representatives of the Christian Churches, ecclesial communities, and different religious traditions, urging us all to a common commitment, free from ideological and political conditioning, to achieve world peace – a firm call to say “no” to war, rearmament, and to impoverishing economy, reaffirming the centrality of dialogue and mutual respect as tools of global cooperation.

Pope Leo XIV sees interreligious dialogue as the high road to fraternal and peaceful coexistence.

In my personal exchange with him I spoke to him both in Italian and English and he answered me in both languages with a big smile.

When I first met former SFZC Abbess Zenkei Blanche Hartman Roshi, she told me: “Wow, Rome!”. I wonder what she would say of this meeting.

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Newsette – June 17

I am including once again an invitation to register for this year’s Branching Streams Gathering. The dates are September 15-18. This Gathering, co-hosted by Ancient Dragon Zen Gate in Chicago and Milwaukee Zen Center, takes place at LUREC, Loyola University’s Recreation and Ecology Center in Woodstock, IL The theme of the Gathering is Bridging and Belonging – Living a Zen Life in the Midst of Conflict.

Here is the link to the registration form. The deadline for registrations is July 1.

Branching Streams Gatherings, held every two years, bring together teachers, sangha leaders, and members of Zen Centers in the Suzuki Roshi lineage to share struggles and successes, learn from one another’s experience, and build connections.

At our 2023 Gathering in Santa Cruz we used the “Open Space” method of generating breakout groups based on the questions, concerns, and expertise of participants. The atmosphere was lively and engaged, and we will use the same method at this year’s Gathering. We will also have time for sharing what’s most alive in your sangha/center, morning and afternoon zazen and morning service, walking on the LUREC campus trails, a skit night and an evening focused on a new collection of Suzuki Roshi’s teachings edited by Green Gulch Farm Abbot Jiryu, who will participate in the Gathering.

We welcome those coming to a Gathering for the first time, as well as those who have attended before. In order to include as many sanghas as possible, we limit the number of participants from any Center or sangha to three, though exceptions can be made. Please check with your guiding teacher/sangha leader before registering.

The registration fee is $650 U.S. dollars, which covers room and board, all conference fees, and shuttle transportation to and from O’Hare International Airport. We are offering partial scholarships and travel support for those who cannot pay the full amount, which can be requested within the registration form.

This Newsette includes some encouraging words from Pope Leo XIV, news of a priest ordination in Berkeley, an opportunity for residential practice in Colorado, a Pride parade in Santa Cruz, a new article in Tricycle by a member of Mountain Rain Zen Community in Vancourver, more about the new book of Suzuki Roshi’s teaching mentioned above, and an invitation to join a three week online program based on a weekend offering in May, Engaging the Heart of Practice.

Dario Doshin Girolami, founding and guiding teacher of Centro Zen l’Arco in Rome, wrote a blog about his meetings with Pope Leo XIV and the Pope’s message to faith leaders. “He urged us all to a common commitment, free from ideological and political conditioning, to achieve world peace – a firm call to say “no” to war, rearmament, and to impoverishing economy, reaffirming the centrality of dialogue and mutual respect as tools of global cooperation.” You can find the entire blog and another photo on the Features page of the Newsette.

Berkeley Zen Center held a priest ordination on Sunday, June 8 at. Genzan Kakuho Clay Taylor was ordained by Kakudo Peter Overton and Genkai Shinyu Joe Buckner was ordained by Nyokai Laurie Senauke. Laurie wrote, “Both Clay and Joe had been working with Abbot Hozan before he passed away. There hasn’t been an ordination at BZC in a few years; it was meaningful and bittersweet for the BZC sangha to be moving forward without either of our two longtime shepherds – Sojun Roshi and Hozan Roshi.”

Crestone Zen Mountain Center in Colorado is accepting applications for residency. “Residency can be an opportunity to dive into the craft of Zen teaches through contemplative work and zendo practice.” Here is the link for more information.

This June marked the 50th annual Pride Parade in Santa Cruz. Memberso of Santa Cruz Zen Center marched in the parade and attended an interfaith prayer service prior to the parade, as they have done for many years.

River Shannon, a priest at Mountain Rain Zen Community in Vancouver, BC, Canada had an article published in Tricyle this month, “Queer-Seeking Mind.” She writes about “the common spark” between her way-seeking mind and her queer seeking mind, “which is maybe just one mind. I think my experience with each has helped to illuminate the other, so that my Way-Seeking Mind is inevitably Queer, and my Queer-Seeking Mind is inevitably Buddhist.”

Becoming Yourself: Teachings on the Zen Way of Life by Shunryu Suzuki was published by Tarcher/Penguin Random House this week. Green Gulch Farm Abbot.Jiryu Rutschmannj-Byler worked with the late Sojun Weitsman to translate and edit some of Suzuki Roshi’s talks that had not been published. In addition to speaking about the book at the Branching Streams Gathering, Jiryu will be sharing these teachings with many Branching Streams sanghas in the coming months. Becoming Yourself has its own website.

Tatsudo Nicole Baden and the staff of Dharma Academy invite you to participate in a 3-week online class, Engaging the Heart of Wisdom: Recordings and Reflect provides full access to all seven video sessions from the “Engaging the Heart of Wisdom” weekend event, along with a new lecture recorded in June. “Each recorded talk is accompanied by a written summary to help you navigate its key themes and core messages. Over the course of three weeks, you will receive a series of emails—one per session—guiding you through the material. This structure allows space to reflect, pause, and integrate the teachings at your own pace.”

A Dharma friend recently reminded me of something I said in a Dharma talk, which seems relevant at this time: “I think mentoring students, offering Dharma talks, writing Dharma books that illuminate and encourage practice, are all expressions of bodhisattva activity – as are signing petitions, writing letters, joining protests, and other responses to “the cries of the world.”

Thank you for all the ways you listen and respond to the cries of the world.

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Newsette – June 4, 2025

I am back at Enso Village after spending several days at City Center and two weeks at Tassajara. Enso Village is beginning to feel like home. There is much news to share this week.

June is Pride Month and Ancient Dragon Zen Gate in Chicago’s guiding teacher Laurie Belzer writes: we will feature voices of our LGBTQI+ dharma companions The dharma is vitalized by small acts of good friendship and committed alliance.” I, Tova, will be giving the Sunday June 8 ADZG talk by Zoom from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. CDT. On Saturday June 21 Rev. Jisho Lisa Hoffman, a co-host of SFZC’s Queer Dharma Group, will offer a hybrid half day sitting from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. CDT, titled Not One Not Two: Sangha Strength. To register,: CLICK HERE

Zen Center North Shore (ZCNS)in Beverly, MA is offering a Queer Sangha Panel on July 26from 7:15 to 8:30 EDT at 72 Grapevine Road in Wenham. They are also participating in a Pride Parade and Festival on Saturday June 28th, from12pm to 4pm EDT in Salem, MA. “ZCNS will again be marching in the parade proudly displaying our banner, and we welcome sangha members to join us as we march to the Salem Common, where the Festival is located.”

ZCNS participated in “They All Have Names” Vigil held May 27 to 28 which recognized the names of more than 17,400 children killed in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023. “The 24-hour vigil was held in Harvard Square and ZCNS was there from 3am to 5am to bear witness as each child’s name was read. Holding banners and pictures of children who have been lost to the violence and the resulting lack of food and medical care was a profound experience for those who were able to attend.”

Last month Brattleboro Zen Center (Vermont) hosted its first bodhisattva precepts initiation ceremony. Guiding teacher Hakusho Ostlund writes: “Two of our members received the sixteen precepts of the Soto Zen tradition: Alison Bundy, whose Dharma name is Shōshu Insan, True Guardian, Hidden Mountain, and Paula Marks, whose Dharma name is Kangetsu Kisei, Generous Moon, Resolute Vow. 

“This was the first time I have had the honor to officiate this formal commitment to a life grounded in vow. In the wake of it, my overwhelming feeling is one of gratitude. While we collectively witnessed and celebrated the culmination of Paula and Alison’s extensive study and preparation, this ceremony felt like a big celebration for the Brattleboro Zen Center as a Sangha.”

Linda Galijan, co-Abiding Teacher at Berkeley Zen Center (BZC), writes, “The BZC Board voted to join an interfaith amicus brief on behalf of Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University student, a husband and father who was arrested in March 2025 by ICE agents in New York. Khalil was targeted for his pro-Palestinian activism and involvement in the Columbia University Gaza war protests. He remains detained in Louisiana.

“The brief explains the motivation of the signatories: “Amici are leaders, congregations and organizations across faiths who revere the Constitution and cherish its guarantee of freedom of speech. Without presuming to speak for all American faiths—a diverse community that holds a multitude of viewpoints—amici are compelled to file this brief because the arrest, detention and potential deportation of petitioner Mahmoud Khalil for his protected speech violate the most basic constitutional rights. We share with him a profound interest in the integrity and protection of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution (U.S. Const., Amend. 1). The government did not object to the filing and it appears likely that the court will accept it.”

Mid-City Zen in New Orleans LA and Dharma Heart Zen in Cotati CA also signed the brief, as did several Zen centers in other lineages.

Crestone Mountain Zen Center (Crestone, Colorado) and Zen Buddhist Center Black Forest together launched their online Dharma Academy, with a weekend event, “Engaging the Heart of Wisdom.” If you missed the event and would like to hear the many speakers, the Recordings and Reflections study packet is available for purchase.

The Bay Area Buddhist Association will offer a free online talk on the deep connection between the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals and Buddhist Principles on Saturday June 28 from 12:00 p.m. to 2 p.m. CDT. The speakers are Rev. Rinso Ed Sattizahn and Rev. Gyokudo Giuseppe Prisco. Here’s a link to a flyer with more information.

May you be well and may you be nourished by Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha.