By Barton Deiters
Those who came to hear harmonious chants and prayers of Buddhist monks at the Basilica of St. Adalbert instead found themselves ousted from the sanctuary by a conservative Catholic splinter group bent on disrupting the performance.
The Catholic parish on Grand Rapids’ West Side allowed seven Tibetan Buddhist monks into the church Tuesday evening, where about 35 people gathered to see them.
But a group of about 50 people and their spiritual leader from Allendale said allowing the Basilica to be used by non-Christians amounted to sacrilege. The members of St. Margaret Mary Church, which included several children, sat in the front pews beneath the giant crucifix and loudly recited prayers of the Rosary about 8 p.m.
This prevented the monks from giving the demonstration, prompting the seven of them to move from the stage peacefully, confounded by the events.
Those who came to see the monks were not happy. They milled about arguing with the people from Allendale, accusing them of being rude and not behaving like Christians.
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Chris Kantor of Grand Rapids. “If this is a sign of the times, we’re in big trouble.”
The Rev. Thomas DeYoung, pastor at St. Adalbert’s, asked the Allendale group to leave several times, but members ignored him and continued their recitation. Grand Rapids police were on the scene but took little action, deciding to let the group disperse peacefully.
The monks and those interested in hearing what they had to say moved to the basement, and once the sanctuary cleared out, the Allendale group got up and filed out.
The group was led by the Rev. Michael McMahon, who said allowing the Buddhist monks into the Catholic Church was offensive. His congregation, which practices Latin Mass, is not part of the Catholic Diocese of Grand Rapids.
“This goes against everything we as Catholics are supposed to believe,” he said. “We can’t stand by while this irreligious group uses this beautiful basilica.
“I pray to God it did some good,” McMahon said of his group’s actions.
Despite the incident, an appearance this morning by the monks at Grand Valley State University was to go on as planned.
The monks were invited by Yosay Wangdi, a Tibetan faculty member of the history department, for a cultural demonstration including chanting and dancing.
She called Tuesday night’s protest “unfortunate,” adding Christians have nothing to fear from Tibetan Buddhists.
“Buddhism is a very tolerant religion,” Wangdi said this morning. “The Dalai Lama has extreme respect for other religions. He and the pope are good friends.”
GVSU’s public safety staff was alerted to the possibility of a protest. “They’re prepared to deal with any disruption,” university spokeswoman Mary Eilleen Lyon said.
The Rev. McMahon’s church is part of the Society of St. Pius X, a group that rejects many of tenets of the so-called Vatican II edict that modernized the Roman Catholic Church in the 1960s.
The society has churches worldwide, and the Allendale Church started out meeting at temporary facilities in Wyoming, Gaines Township and Kalamazoo before moving to a former Christian Reformed church in Allendale about five years ago, said Clayton Hauschild, church treasurer from Hastings.
The society is rejected by most Catholics, and the church does not recognize its priests or traditions.
DeYoung said he was supposed to be on vacation Tuesday but decided to stick around after receiving angry e-mails about the monks’ visit over the past several days.
“I suspected something was going to happen, but I didn’t know what,” DeYoung said.
He said the Allendale group’s action demonstrated a profound lack of understanding about Buddhism, which worships no specific god, does not try to convert nonbelievers, and seeks enlightenment.
“I’ve never felt my faith threatened by learning about other traditions, only enhanced.”
Glen Freeman, a member of Tibet West Michigan, said he helped bring the monks to Grand Rapids and other areas worldwide. Tibetan monks have visited West Michigan several times, including last spring when they visited Gilda’s Club and Fountain Street Church.
“This is the only time I’ve ever heard of anything like this,” Freeman said.
He added the monks were here to raise awareness about the brutal conditions in Tibet as it struggles to be free of Chinese control and to spread the Buddhist message of universal harmony.
Speaking through an interpreter, the monks tried to put their distraught hosts at ease. They joked that in India, the dispute could have ended with rocks being hurled.
Despite the disruption, the monks, dressed in flowing scarlet and yellow robes, were able to give their demonstration and discuss Buddhism with those who gathered in the basement. Later, they planned to take advantage of the basilica’s acoustics to record chants.
Geshe-La Lobsang Zodpa, leader of the monks, felt badly about the problems.
“In Buddhist culture, there is no debasing other religions,” he said.
Religion Editor Charles Honey contributed to this report.
