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Panchen Lama elected VP of Buddhist association

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-02-03 14:39
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Panchen Lama elected VP of Buddhist association

The 11th Panchen Lama Bainqen Erdini Qoigyijabu (C), one of the two most senior living Buddhas in Tibetan Buddhism, prays with other lamas during a ceremony for his receiving the bhikku (monk) ordination at Tashilhunpo Monastery in Xigaze, southwest China's Tibet autonomous region, on July 25, 2009. [Xinhua]

BEIJING: The 11th Panchen Lama Bainqen Erdini Qoigyijabu, one of the two most senior living Buddhas in Tibetan Buddhism, was elected vice president of the Buddhist Association of China Wednesday.

Bainqen Erdini Qoigyijabu, 19, addressed the closing ceremony of the eighth national conference of the Buddhist Association of China, representing Tibetan Buddhism delegates, in both Tibetan and Chinese languages.

He said he would uphold the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC), adhere to socialism, safeguard national unification, strengthen ethnic unity and expand Buddhist exchanges, on the basis of adherence to the law and love for the nation and Buddhism.

He said he would actively participate in charity activities and "play a role in building a harmonious society."

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He vowed to contribute to "the blueprint of the compatible development of Tibetan Buddhism and socialism."

"I will not let people down and will contribute to national unification, ethnic unity, promotion of Buddhist doctrine and world peace," he said.

Freedom of religious belief had been the CPC Central Committee's consistent religious policy, which must be firmly grasped, he said.

Bainqen Erdini Qoigyijabu was approved by the central government as the reincarnation of the 10th Panchen Lama in November 1995 after a lot-drawing ceremony among three candidates in the Jokhang Temple in Lhasa.

Nearly 600 delegates from China's religious circles attended the conference in Beijing from Monday to Wednesday.