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His Holiness Dalai Lama, Rector Tove Bull, Bishop Ola Steinholt and the President of the Sàmediggi Plenary Sven-Roald Nystø will be present at a press conference at 09.00-09.30 am December, 5 2001 at Rica Ishavshotel.
The Honorary Doctorate will be conferred to His Holiness in a ceremony at the Hall of the Medicine and Health Studies Building on Campus starting at 2.15 pm. At 10.30 am the same day, the Cathedral of the State Lutheran Church in Tromsø is venue for an inter-religious dialogue on “Mutual Values in a Multi-Religious Society”, which Dalai Lama will attend.
“When the president of the Tibetan exile government, professor Samdhong Rinpoche, visited the University of Tromsø in 1998 in order to speak about the political situation in Tibet, his words on “the quiet diplomacy” of Dalai Lama and other exile Tibetans made a great impact on me”, Tove Bull, Rector of the University, says.
“Dalai Lama is not only working for more open-mindedness, more tolerance and more inter-human understanding in the world, he is also advocating Minority Rights, but only with non-violent means. His attitudes are highly esteemed and through this Honorary Doctorate the University of Tromsø would like to support his work for Human Rights”, Rector Bull continues.
Rector Bull would like to point out the central role of professor Ole Henrik Magga, who has been and still is a spokesperson for Tibet, both towards the Norwegian Government and directly towards Chinese authorities. He has thus been essential in providing ties between the Sàmi People and the Tibetan People. Through research fellow Marit Myrvoll’s contact with Mr Rinpoche and her knowledge on the Tibetans, the University of Tromsø also has close ties with Dalai Lama. Ms Myrvoll instigated Dalai Lama’s visit and was also one of the persons who nominated His Holiness for the Honorary Doctorate. In May last year, she had the pleasure of breaking the news about the Honorary Doctorate to Dalai Lama.
“He read the letter and accepted the doctorate immediately”, Ms Myrvoll says.
Dalai Lama
The 14th Dalai Lama real name is Tenzin Gyatso and he is the political and religious leader of the Tibetans. When China occupied Tibet he was forced to flee in 1959. He has lived more than 40 years in exile in Dharamsala in the Northern parts of India. In 1989 Dalai Lama received the Nobel Peace Prize for his untiring work for peace, international appeasement and cooperation. In his work Dalai Lama is disseminating wisdom developed through the millenniums in the Tibetan Buddhism. He is promoting values common for all the great schools of thought, and he does it in a way understandable for all, independent of religious background and conviction.
Common values in a multi-religious society
In connection with the visit of Dalai Lama in Tromsø, the Bishop of Nord-Hålogaland, Ola Steinholt, is arranging an inter-religious dialogue entitled “Mutual Values in a Multi-Religious Society” held in the Cathedral of the State Lutheran Church.
“In a time when world peace is challenged by terror attacks, revenge acts and war, where religious antagonisms are reinforced and used by fanatics, it is important to sit down together. “In a time where religious differences thrive, it is important to focus on what we have in common, the values which can create a healthy society in which it is safe to grow up, whether you are a Christian, Muslim or Buddhist”, Bishop Ola Steinholt states.
“As the largest religion in Norway, the Norwegian Church has a specific responsibility for bringing people with different religious background together, so that we can meet the challenges of the society united and with mutual respect”, Steinholt says.
Along with Dalai Lama, Professor in Theology at the University of Oslo Notto Thelle will also hold an introduction. Notto Thelle has years of experience on religious activities in the intersection between East and West.
For further information, please contact:
Rector Tove Bull, phone 77 64 49 88 or 90 04 49 88.
For further information on Dalai Lama, please look up the homepage for the Government of Tibet in Exile: http://www.tibet.com/
Information about previous honorary doctorates at the University of Tromsø can be found at:
http://www.uit.no/tromsoflaket/2001.16/lama3.html
Programme for HH the 14th Dalai Lama’s visit to Tromsø attached
Word-version of the document
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