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'The Cross and the Bodhi Tree' Shown on Australian Television

Monday, September 20, 2004

Subtitled 'Christian encounters with Buddhism', this film was recently broadcast on national television in Australia.

'The Cross and the Bodhi Tree' was broadcast on Australian national television on 12th September. Made by FLTfilms, part of Initiatives of Change's productions division, and filmed in Cambodia, France and England, this film depicts the extraordinary spiritual journeys of Father François Ponchaud, a French Catholic priest and Mother Rosemary, an English Anglican nun. Geraldine Doogue, one of Australia’s most distinguished TV presenters and journalists, gave the following introduction to the weekly Sunday evening programme ‘Compass’: ‘Tonight, a spiritual journey across cultures. In a world where religious intolerance is regrettably prevalent, a French Catholic priest and an English Anglican nun set out to see what they can learn from Buddhism. Father François Ponchaud, author of ‘Cambodia Year Zero’, a book which helped alert the world to the devastation of the Khmer Rouge, lives in Cambodia and sets his Catholic faith against the ideals of Buddhism; while Mother Rosemary meets neighbouring Buddhist nuns in England and discovers that Eastern meditation can be just as effective as Christian prayer. It seems that the two faiths have more in common than first thought as spiritual worlds collide in our film ‘The Cross and the Bodhi Tree’.” On air since 1988, ‘Compass’ is described by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation as a programme which ‘explores the interface between religion and life… undertaking rigorous, thought-provoking yet sensitive analysis… inviting viewers to see into the underlying sources by which people live their lives and make their commitments.’ The film is available for purchase from Initiatives of Change Australia. David and Alan Channer