Speech of Yoshinori Shinohara

Thank you very much for the opportunity to speak at the session on “A World Free From Nuclear Weapons”. I am Yoshinori Shinohara, Secretary General of Religions for Peace Japan and Asia.

 

First of all, I would like to express my heartfelt respect to the St. Egidio Community and all those who have been holding this Prayer Meeting every year for 37 years since 1986. In the midst of the severe international situation, I am amazed at how many people have been encouraged by this Prayer Meeting

 

Religions for Peace is an international organization founded in 1970 to promote peace activities through solidarity among various religions. It has been granted General Consultative Status by the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) since 1999. Religions for Peace is engaged in peace activities such as conflict reconciliation, disarmament, humanitarian activities, environmental protection, peace education, through interfaith dialogue and cooperation.

 

One of the main reasons for the founding of Religions for Peace was the abolition of nuclear weapons, since the world's religious leaders, who feared the imminent destruction of humanity due to the extraordinary nuclear arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union from 1960 to 1970, stood up for the prevention of nuclear war and the abolition of nuclear weapons, advocating love for humanity and brotherhood, and formed Religions for Peace.

 

Fifty-three years have passed since then. However, nuclear weapons have not disappeared, and the threat of nuclear war has increased in recent years. The Doomsday Clock of the American Scientific Journal shows the worst time so far this year. This means that we are living in the midst of a great crisis. One of the main reasons for this is the growing risk of nuclear use in the situation in Ukraine. President Vladimir Putin and other Russian officials often refer to the use of nuclear weapons.

 

What action is required of religious leaders in response to this situation? Religions for Peace Japan, a coalition of religious leaders based in Japan, the only country to have experienced the dropping of nuclear weapons in war time, has been discussing and trying to take actions to overcome this difficult international situation related to nuclear weapons. 

 

This May, the G7 summit was held in Hiroshima. Religions for Peace places a high priority on dialogue with political leaders in peacebuilding. One of its most important actions is to bundle the voices of the world's religious leaders and bring them directly to political leaders. Religions for Peace Japan delivered in person a statement made by Japanese religious leaders on various global issues to the Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who served as chair of the G7 Summit in Hiroshima. We were deeply aware of the significance of the G7 Summit held in Hiroshima, the site of the atomic bombing in1945. Since we had the strong hope that nuclear war will never happen again, our statement was titled Religious Leaders’ Recommendations for the G7 Summit— Aiming for Sustainable Peace Guided by the Spirit of Hiroshima—. Mainly the six items requested in this statement are "Reversing the trend from division to reconciliation and from opposition to dialogue", "Averting nuclear war and abolishing nuclear weapons", "Fulfilling the responsibility for global sustainability", "Fulfilling the responsibility to achieve the SDGs", "Correcting extreme economic disparity", and "Protecting the freedom of religion".

 

In particular, we emphasized to recommend G7 counties to repeatedly issue the message that the use of nuclear weapons will not be tolerated under any circumstances, along with the early abolition of nuclear weapons because we are now facing an increased risk of the use of nuclear weapons by the Ukraine crisis. And we insisted that, this war has infested the world with a strong binary opposition of mutual distrust, in which the world is clearly divided into friend and enemy. In response to the current situation, the countries participating in the G7 Summit should take the initiative to send out and practice strongly from division to reconciliation and from confrontation to dialogue in order to end the war.

 

The G7 Hiroshima Summit has both achievements and challenges. As for achievements, it was historically significant that the G7 Summit was held in Hiroshima, that the leaders of the seven countries prayed at the Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims, that they visited Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, and that they realized dialogue with the A-bomb survivors. The fact that the leaders of the seven countries made a note at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum and sent a message of peace, even if it was a "personal wish," was a ray of light. I understand that this is because they learned about the reality of the atomic bombing in Hiroshima, and that they accepted the "spirit of Hiroshima. It is certain that the world's attention was drawn to Hiroshima and the momentum for the abolition of nuclear weapons was further strengthened.

 

Unfortunately, however, I must also point out that there are some issues related to our proposal statement. The first is that in the "G7 Leaders' Hiroshima Vision on Nuclear Disarmament," which means an official statement, there is no indication of a will to abolish nuclear weapons; rather, it justifies the theory of nuclear deterrence and acknowledges the maintenance of the possession of nuclear weapons in the A-bombed city. I must express our regret at the contradictory stance shown by the government, which acknowledges the existence of nuclear weapons while realizing the tragedy of nuclear weapons. Second, with regard to the situation in Ukraine, the discussion of military assistance to Ukraine and the strengthening of sanctions against Russia was limited to a discussion of the two sides of the conflict, a trend that has further deepened the confrontation by clarifying which side is the enemy. It is also regrettable that there was no message on a broad vision toward ending the war or on efforts toward dialogue and reconciliation to resolve the situation. We must not forget that the G7 should make diplomatic efforts toward a ceasefire, not just to strengthen the confrontation of power with power.

 

We will continue to work through dialogue with political leaders to pave the way for the abolition of nuclear weapons and an end to war.

 

Furthermore, Religions for Peace Japan considers action by religious leaders themselves to be of paramount importance, in addition to appeals to political leaders for peacebuilding. With regard to the situation in Ukraine, where the use of nuclear weapons is on the rise, we, as religious people, have taken steps to resolve the situation of this crisis.

 

So as to bring this serious tragedy to an early end, last year Religions for Peace Japan, together with our global network, held the First Tokyo Peace Roundtable dialogue where religious leaders from Russia and Ukraine participated to discuss reconciliation. Approximately 100 religious leaders and government officials from Ukraine, Russia, and 14 other countries in the Middle East and Asia participated as well. We focused on the religious values and religious influences that are important to both sides and aimed to promote reconciliation between religious leaders.

 

The significance of this Roundtable was realization of the simultaneous presence of delegates from both Ukrainian and Russian Orthodox Churches, which confirmed the effectiveness of the dialogue. From Russia, a representative of the Russian Orthodox Church attended on behalf of Patriarch Kirill. Other Russian participants included the President of the Russian Muslim Spiritual Assembly and the Director of the Federation of Russian Jewish Communities.

 

The official representative of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church was the Archbishop in charge of public relations. Also present from Ukraine were a Greek Catholic priest and the Director of the Religious Affairs Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. In addition, a unique feature of this Roundtable was the presence of representatives from the Greek (Constantinople) Orthodox Church, which has deep historical ties to both the Russian and Ukrainian Orthodox Churches. We had the presence of H. E. Metropolitan Emmanuel of Elder Metropolitan of Chalcedon, who serves as co-moderator of Religions for Peace International. By representatives of the Orthodox Churches of Greece (Constantinople), I believe the weight of the influence and effectiveness of conference has more increased.

 

The Roundtable was at times heated and contentious, but both sides were able to finally reach to find out common understanding of their future efforts as one statement. I think the most significant aspect of the Roundtable was the unanimous adoption of the statements "All parties are committed to a process of long-term reconciliation" and "Continue this Peace Roundtable to build interfaith cooperation and peace,". I was so impressed at witness that all participants together made the pledge to continue the dialogue in the future.

 

The reason why direct dialogue between Ukraine and Russia was fruitfully realized in Tokyo, whereas it was not possible in the past, and why both sides were able to confirm the importance of dialogue and cooperation in common, I consider, is because the Roundtable was held in Tokyo, a certain distance from Ukraine. And more importantly it is because during the Roundtable, all participants visited the Shinto Shrine of the Meiji Jingu, the Buddhist Temple of the Sensoji, and the lay Buddhist Organization of Rissho Kosei-kai in Tokyo, to be able to experience Japanese religious spirituality. I humbly believe that through encounter with the spirit of harmony that these Japanese religions cherish, and the spirituality that values the relationship between people, nature, and the gods and Buddha, the Roundtable participants, even in the midst of the hatred between both sides, have emerged with a conviction based on religious spiritualities for peace that is definitely present within them. 

 

Of course, this single conference cannot be expected to bring an immediate end to the war that has caused so many casualties and so much damage. This could be small attempt. But, Religions for Peace Japan will continue to hold these kind of peace Roundtables as many as possible, persistently seeking a path to an end to the war.

 

Since its founding, Religions for Peace has sought to bring together the diverse resources of religions to achieve common action. As we look toward “A World Free From Nuclear Weapons”, we must more firmly bring together the wisdom of our religious traditions and work together to take strong action toward common agenda. And if the collective impact generated from this will affect various areas of the world and society, we will realize our goal of a world of free nuclear weapons. If nothing is done, nothing will change. We can work together. 

 

Thank you very much for your attention.