Pope Francis has begun his 45th Apostolic Journey in Indonesia, and was warmly received in Jakarta. The Vatican has been at pains to emphasize that the aging, wheelchair-bound Pontiff’s priority is Asia, and Pope Francis has the schedule to prove it: this is his longest tour yet. Asia is the continent that birthed not only Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism—the three great missionary religions—but also all of the major extant world faith traditions, including Judaism, Hinduism, Sikhism, and Daoism.

It is not surprising that Asia’s populations, economies, and societies of are of critical interest to the great faith traditions. According to the United Nations Population Fund, the Asia-Pacific is home to 4.3 billion people, 60 per cent of the world’s population. In 2021, according to consulting firm McKinsey, Asia contributed 42 per cent of world GDP (at purchasing power parity) in 2021, more than any other region. And Asia accounts for 50 per cent of the value of global trade.

Importantly, Catholic churches in Asia remain a minority and this means that they are not strangers to interfaith dialogue. The conversation with other traditions is a central theme of Pope Francis’s trip. It therefore seems appropriate to offer a Buddhist perspective on an important word that the Pope is stressing on his Apostolic Journey: vibrancy.

Catholicism, along with other faith traditions, faces demographic decline in Asia, with the simple fact that younger generations are progressively less religious and more unlikely to identify with the faith traditions of their parents or past generations—in this respect, Buddhism is facing a severe decline. But the formal decline of religious affiliation masks an ever-growing thirst for deep meaning in young people, who are increasingly alienated, suffering from mental illness and emotional problems, and searching for serious purpose in their lives. East Asia, in particular, is a more religiously vibrant region than it might initially seem.

Despite being a minority religion, Christian and especially Catholic organizations in Asia punch above their weight in charitable and educational work. Some of the best schools in Asia, in former European colonies and even in those that were not, were founded by Catholics. Yet, institutionally, the Catholic Church has borne witness to a steady decline of practice—namely church attendance—in Europe, a majority Christian continent with many predominantly Catholic nations. In this sense, Europe and Asia are experiencing similar demographic phenomena.

However, to serious faith leaders, nominal numbers do not take precedence over a flourishing network of communities and works. This has led the Pope to stress “vibrancy” over a simple numbers game. Fr. Antonio Spadaro, an advisor to the pontiff, says: “The pope is interested not so much in the number of Catholics as the vibrancy.” (CNN) Myanmar’s Cardinal Charles Maung Bo echoed the sentiment, saying that the Church “continues to not just be alive but dynamic [our emphasis] in different ways,” and that churches in Asia, “though small, are vibrant and alive.” (The Tablet)

Now, what of the Buddhist Dharma? It is incorrect to cast Buddhism as instinctively non-philanthropic or uninvolved. Buddhist charitable organizations and non-profits, particularly in the 20th and 21st centuries, have been key groups promoting material well-being for the disadvantaged, as well as education in both secular and Dharma affairs across demographics. In historical and contemporary times, the thread holding these institutions together, while disseminating the Dharma on the ground among the majority population, has not been senior abbots, professors in respected universities, or directors of large charities. It has been the simple faithful, the kind of “ignorant but pious” people that reformers such as Shinran (1173–1263) deeply loved.

Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche has enumerated a great deal about “hillbilly Buddhists.” In an excerpt highlighting a speech from December 2023 on his foundation’s website, Rinpoche tried to articulate what this kind of Buddhist was. A hillbilly Buddhist, which might sound derogatory or condescending, is—at least for Rinpoche—a compliment that reclaims the stereotype of the unthinking, simple-minded American of faith and prayer in the Deep South.

By this [hillbilly Buddhists], I’m talking about people who don’t even know the Four Noble Truths, though they kind of know who is Buddha. They may not know where the Buddha came from, but they are by birth Buddhist, culturally Buddhist, born in a Buddhist place; they’re not intellectual. (Khyentse Foundation)

He was adamant in stressing that these unintellectual people formed the backbone of the Buddhist sangha, providing the very foundation of vibrant, active communities where there is actual, lively participation: “ . . . where do you get cream if you don’t have milk? And they are the milk.” (Khyentse Foundation)

This has echoes of how Pope Francis’s predecessor, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, sought to speak to simple men and women of faith, despite his reputation for a lofty theology. According to Cardinal Koch, for Pope Emeritus, “Theology is secondary, faith comes first. Theology, he maintained, must be oriented by faith, and not faith oriented by theology.” (Daily Compass) Additionally, Pope Emeritus saw that the faith of reason is “the faith of the simple ones, the faith of those who believe for real.” (Monday Vatican)

Bound up in this “simple faith” is one’s behavior, ethics, and works in an interconnected cultural matrix. A Pew Research Survey from 2022–23 found that Asian Buddhists are actually not so much concerned with who has taken refuge in the three treasures, which is a formal ritual ceremony that formalizes one’s religious affiliation, but rather how “Buddhist values” manifest in respect for elders, reverence for deities and spirits, and a sense of patriotism—along with refraining from intoxicants, going to temples and pagodas, and more.

We must go beyond a population’s numerical confession of faith in certain doctrines. Demographically, this is a losing battle. Rather, we can take heart in the fact that Asia “represents the future at this time in the world,” according to Fr. Antonio Spadaro. (CNN) Since the Catholic Church is seeking to act as a “leaven” that can serve the “common good,” Buddhist communities should focus on reviving and sustaining vibrancy, with a focus on serving the “hillbilly Buddhists” or people of simple belief in the Dharma. These are the true messengers and propagators of Buddhism. According to Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, “That’s how the religion sort of ends up moving around. Not necessarily always just because a Rinpoche taught, or a Rinpoche set up a Dharma center. These are important—these hillbilly Buddhists are so important.” (Khyentse Foundation)

We briefly mentioned Shinran, who focused on spreading Pure Land Buddhism to the illiterate masses of Japan, from peasants to fallen samurai, rather than the imperial court or the nobility. It is his spirit—that extraordinary embrace of all rather than only a few, since we are all deluded and Amitabha Buddha’s light shines bounteously on every sentient being—that truly animates religious communities, infusing them with vibrancy and the potential to transform all of Asia and the world anew.

See more

Population trends (UNFPA)
Asia on the cusp of a new era (McKinsey)
Pope Francis starts his longest trip yet as Catholic Church pivots to Asia (CNN)
Pope Francis will meet ‘vibrant’ Church in Asia (The Tablet)
The Future of the Buddhadharma (Khyentse Foundation)
“Benedict XVI Doctor of the Church: he fought for the faith of simple people” (Daily Compass)
The paradox of Benedict XVI (Monday Vatican)

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